


New World Symphony

by Koroshimasu



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Age gap couple?, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Seduction, Bottom Gavin Reed, College professor Nines, Crossdressing, Doctor/Patient, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, Gavin Reed Redemption, Harassment, Loss of Control, Loss of Faith, M/M, Minor Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), Minor Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Mystery, Nines bashing, Nines loses everything, On hold/On Hiatus, Oral Sex, Protective Gavin Reed, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, Protective lovers, Sexual Tension, Stalking, Therapist RK900, Top Upgraded Connor | RK900, Witch Hunts, childish bickering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:20:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 61,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22043203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koroshimasu/pseuds/Koroshimasu
Summary: Professor Nines is suddenly accused of molesting one of his students. His universe starts crumbling and breaking apart when colleagues and old friends begin questioning him and even turning on him. When it seems like no one believes him, his most despised student Gavin Reed defends his innocence to the end. The only question Nines has for the youth is what’s his angle in all this?*DISCONTINUED ON THIS SITE AS OF JAN 25, 2020*
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 82
Kudos: 107





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I drew the title of this work from the musical piece: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’, Op. 95, B. 178-popularly known as the New World Symphony, composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893. This fic was also inspired by the Mads Mikkelsen film called ‘Jagten’ aka ‘The Hunt’, which is basically telling the same plot, only the main character there isn’t a college prof.
> 
> And for everything that’s good and holy, this fic isn’t like ‘The Hand of God’. Nines isn’t a creepy perv, plus the students here are 19 and above in age.

**New World Symphony**

“Good morning, Professor Nines!!”

Nines beamed at Professor North when she rushed to greet him jovially on the subway. The college professor usually traveled every morning to work alone, but he didn’t mind the company, especially when it came to him in the form of a lovely, familiar face.

“Good morning to you as well, Professor North.”

The train moved swiftly, gliding and skating along through the city, the world outside passing the still half-asleep and mostly blearily passengers by. Majority of them tried keeping away while sipping on beverages such as tea, coffee, and lattes. A few children clung to their mothers, trying not to get too excited at the beauteous colors flying and zipping by in a blur. The duration of the journey itself usually didn’t last more than an hour at the most, but Nines loved it all the same. He gathered a lot of his thoughts while going over his notes for the next lesson and lecture, usually so pristine in his organization that his colleagues continuously praised him for it.

Wayne State University was usually the last and largest stop, and that’s where Nines had been planning on going. Well, it was his destination, currently, and it had been that way for nearly four whole years. The friendly android was a professor of psychology and had been ever since he submitted a most excellent resume and online profile displaying his various research publications and books. It’d all been received well by the Dean of the University, and Nines found himself in pleasant, stable employment he actually enjoyed sincerely since.

Teaching gave him purpose, life, and it inspired him to do greater things. Every year, he presented a new research thesis proposal, and he would orally defend and present it to a board. He wasn’t doing this for no real reason and direction, however; he was doing this so he could be granted the approval of being promoted to the Chair of the School of Graduate Studies in Psychology. It’d been his personal aim ever since, and Nines was going to ensure that he nailed the position this year. Nothing would stand in his way, and the android worked on overdrive and pursued his goal with a never-ending passion. He was hardly deterred from it, and even to the point where a lot of his colleagues were already more than confident the job was his.

He was made for this, after all, and he was more than thrilled to be sharing such a unique opportunity with other humans and androids as intellectually gifted and talented as himself. One such android was North.

The female android was both a stunning beauty in her own right, as well as a highly intelligent being. Her long-highlighted brown and slightly auburn hair hung down past her shoulders today, and a single braid came to weave its way around her temples circling the back of her head. Her eyes were always filled with an eagerness to please and learn, and that’d been the very thing Nines came to admire about her. Professor North had recently been admitted for the role of Journalism, and she was very damn good at her job.

Her courses were excellent and booming in popularity, so much that the Dean allowed a few of her courses to be electives open to students who wished to pursue a Liberal Arts Degree. Possessing both beauty and brains in her own right, Professor North was a highly sought-after woman, especially by some of her male colleagues.

Grinning down at her while she carefully adjusted her red purse over her delicate shoulder, he inquired as delicately as he could, “So, how are things with yourself and your vehement admirer?”

She sighed a dramatic sigh. “Don’t even get me started!!”

He’d been referring to the dogged, ardent Professor Markus, another android working at the college. Markus taught Economics, and ever since he’d collaborated with North for a paper, the male had become stricken by North’s beauty, and he’d pursued her romantically from that point on. Never once ceasing his hounding, he even blatantly ignored the fact that North had bluntly started that she felt attracted to Nines; not Markus.

“We’re all fool’s in love, Professor,” Nines commented when she’d huffed again, “namely yourself, I imagine.”

Their eyes met, LED lights spinning to yellow. North frowned, the gesture marring her features. “Well,” she began sternly, “what’s the catch with you, then?”

He tilted his head curiously down at her, trying to make way for a mother with a stroller fitting twins within it. They edged their way around him, trying to take luxurious seats in the back after a few elderly people moved towards the front of the train, eagerly waiting to get off at their intended stop.

More importantly, while Nines remained thoughtful, he felt he had no idea how to let her down. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate a beautiful woman clearly pressing her romantic inclinations and advances unto him…it was the truth of the reality that Nines felt he was completely asexual.

The RK900 simply felt nothing sexual in terms of thoughts, feelings, dreams, questions, curiosity, as well as interests in anyone, male or female, android or human. He’d once longed for a partner, but whenever he thought of acquiring one, it seemed more akin to a friendship, a business partner, or a colleague at work. He never thought of undressing another, pressing his weight down on them, or having them in his lap writhing and moaning with raw need and lust. Nines never felt himself going crazy after anyone, he never felt jealousy stirring in his system, nor did he ever feel himself responding to a few scantily clad women on display in commercials. There was no response even with the men. He’d witnessed plenty of sports advertisements, commercials, and shows displaying and presenting men with fantastic bodies, shapes, and splendid builds.

But of course, Nines wasn’t interested in the slightest. He appreciated beauty in the forms of masculinity and femininity, but he didn’t wish to even reach out and savor a kiss with another. It was all a shame when the realization of what he was came hurtling into his mind one night, but Nines soon learned to cope with it. His job was of greater importance, and he was more than content with allowing his colleagues to their own thoughts and presumptions when it came to his mysterious ‘love life’.

Already, a few rumors floating around seemed to perpetuate the notion that he was already seeing someone, but he didn’t want this individual’s identity to be revealed. Of course, this sparked North’s interest in him, and since that rumor was born, she’d tried obtaining the ‘truth’ from Nines. She was quite eager even now to discover who his secret lover was, and while Nines vehemently reiterated for the hundredth time that there was ‘no lover’, she rolled her eyes and waved him off.

“Sure, whatever, Nines!” Letting out a playful giggle that teetered on the edge of flirtatious, she commented, “But if I find out who it is, I’m gonna let you know that you both better run!!”

Smirking puckishly, Nines drawled, “Oh? Is that a fact?”

“You bet, mister!! I called ‘dibs’ a long time ago!!”

The train came to a halt very slowly and gently, with the intercoms blaring on as a cheerful woman’s voice cried out: “Alright everyone! Last stop’s at Wayne State University!! Please remain seated until the train completely stops! Thank you, and we wish for you to have a most pleasant day!!”

And a pleasant day, it most certainly was. The summer sun had graced America so peacefully, especially after a long and rather cruel winter. But, that had passed, like most things, and with it, spring bled nicely into summer. The month of May was off to a lovely start, and with a lot of classes he was to be teaching taking place in the summer, Nines was super thrilled to get a head start right now.

Nodding at North, he allowed her to loop her arm around his while they straightened out their clothes and waited for the other passengers to file out of the train in a neat, single-file line. As they stood together, Nines noticed the more ‘alluring’ clothes North had donned, more than likely to gain his attention.

She wore a wonderfully fitting-but tight-red blouse, the buttons more than widely open to reveal her creamy cleavage. It would no doubt give a lot of her male students more than an eyeful they deserved. Beneath that she wore high heels and a tight black skirt that barely brushed her kneecaps.

Knowing he’d been staring for too long, North eyed him, and when Nines looked away abruptly, she grinned triumphantly.

“It’s okay, Nines,” she purred in zeal, “you can have a look…”

Frowning, he shook his head while they stepped down and onto the busy sidewalk. “I’m not like that, North,” he sighed as he narrowly avoided a cyclist before they hissed at him to get out of the way. “I think your students may be too distracted from your classes, however.”

“Distracted, pishtracted!” she joked humorously while pulling on his arms. “Come on, Nines!! We can still chat since we’re so dang early!!”

As he followed her, Nines tilted his head back and studied the environment he’d come to grow in and love so much.

Wayne State University was practically a castle unto itself. Large and pleasant to look at, the grounds had been quite a sight to behold, especially in the summer. Many of the agriculture students and environmental researchers were responsible for the upkeep of the land, tending to it as much as the gardeners. Luscious, leafy greens and beautiful vegetation crew, curving its way delightfully along bridges, walls, windowsills, as well as wound along benches. Students sat about reading and texting beneath the protective and expansive shades of trees, the leaves and branches extending so ravenously. Many small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, geese, ducks, as well as other tiny birds flew, chirped their merry summery songs, and nestled about in the old nooks and crannies of the enormous building.

The large university held plenty of secrets accrued since its establishment, and Nines wished he could discover each and every one. Perhaps he would, in time…but for now, he jogged as he ran up a slope and crossed the street, flying into the welcoming doors of the place he called his second home.


	2. In Perfect Trust

“Ahh, the whole gang’s here??” North chuckled as she held out her hands when she and Nines entered the tiny ‘staff lounge’ just before 8 a.m. sharp. “Connor, move that sexy ass aside for a moment.” Plopping herself down next to the shy, reserved Liberal Arts professor, North kicked back her feet and relaxed.

Nines followed her in, next, waving in a pleasant greeting at his friendly colleagues, Connor, Kara, Simon, Markus, and Josh. All of them were professors, with the exception of Kara. Kara served as North’s assistant lecturer due to how recently she’d been transferred into Wayne State University. The equally attractive female android was more of a friend to North than Nines imagined, and the women were often quite chatty with one another between classes. Kara kept her hair quite short, but it was a platinum blonde color that made her skin appear far whiter save for her tiny freckles dancing along her rosy cheeks.

Professor Josh taught mathematics and business accounting, ever the astute android he was. Professor Simon dabbled in political science, and the blonde haired, blue-eyed android was by far even more soft-spoken than Connor. At times, Connor could be abrasive, courageous, boisterous, and sometimes highly emotional. However, Simon seemed to always be calm, collected and subdued. His eyes held more tragic secrets that only Nines became aware of when Simon voluntarily approached him last winter to disclose a deep secret he’d been hiding and keeping for a long time.

Right now, that same secret almost betrayed the android, and he allowed his eyes to roam around Markus’ body so openly…so wantonly.

It was no good.

Only Nines remained loyal enough to keep Simon’s secret, and he vowed to always do so. Simon wasn’t as trusting as the others, and it’d taken him a long time to approach Nines so he could open up to someone. Nines appreciated that, which was why he’d never breathe to another soul about the fact that for many months, Simon and Markus had been having an affair.

Nines-and as much of the world as he knew it-wasn’t close minded. He didn’t particularly care one way or another who was attracted to men, women, both, or anything else. As long as the parties involved were consenting adults, what did it matter? It wasn’t his business and right to judge, so he never did. However, he had to really question his colleagues at times, and the affair brought such odd questions to his mind so brazenly.

More importantly, Nines wondered how it was possible for Markus to ignore how very much and how badly Simon still desired and yearned for him while he chased after North for her affections. It truly stymied and hurt the android, and as he remained aloof and pensive in his musings, he felt sorry for Simon. Yes, the RK900 often commiserated and felt empathy towards anyone in need of it, and right now, given the way Simon’s eyes practically swam with passion for Markus, Nines felt vicariously as broken as Simon portrayed he was.

Evidently, according to Simon’s emotional confession, the affair blossomed out of nowhere. Simon had kept his eyes on Markus when they were hired for their jobs almost at the same time as each other, but due to his humble and shy nature, the blonde android never sought closeness or company with Markus. Claiming that the strikingly handsome android was ‘so far out of his league’ was enough to keep Simon at bay, and he’d only visited Markus in his vain imaginings and fantasies. With the ability to keep a lot of those in check, Simon managed to keep as professional of a relationship with Markus as he could, right until the pair had gone swimming together in a lake.

What had initially started out as a friendly hangout soon spiraled out of control when Markus flirted and teased Simon for hours on end. When Simon lost his nerve and threatened to leave early to call it a night, in a last-minute move to stop him, Markus kissed him. The torrid affair wasn’t without passion, but all that seemed to flourish only in the bedroom, from what Simon reported and disclosed. It appeared that whenever Markus experienced an instance of cacoethes, he had no issues with intimacy. However, in public, Markus often avoided Simon beyond a simple ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, and ‘see you later’. They could’ve been strangers, and that seemed to be precisely what Markus had been going for all along. Still, that never cut back on the affair lasting for ten complete months, and it didn’t appear to slow down even when Markus had an eye on North.

Nines considered the possibility that the argute android was bisexual, and he could’ve fallen in love with both Simon and North simultaneously. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, after all.

Frankly, it wasn’t his damn business, and he kept out of it long enough to pursue his blossoming, growing career. That was at the forefront of his mind, but he always kept his door open for friends.

With a reassuring smile granted at Simon, Nines nodded slowly. He wanted to check whether the blonde android was alright. A perfunctory nod came his way, and Simon quickly managed to change his LED light color from yellow to blue when Markus strolled by him.

The taller, bulkier android’s mismatched eyes wandered along North’s sensual, creamy skin, and he smirked as he leaned against a vending machine propped against a wall in the lounge. “So, North,” he began with an air of confidence so thick and heavy that it seemed to choke everyone in the room. “How’s it going?”

North rolled her eyes as she hung her head down and instead turned to Connor and Josh. “Is it kind of cramped in this room?”

Connor smirked, and Josh only toyed with his textbooks silently. Markus, however, certainly wasn’t amused.

Huffing, he pouted, “Playing hard to get again? That’s getting real old, North.” Leaning down over her, he purposefully slammed both hands on either side of the table next to her body. Digging his nose into her hair, he practically crooned, “Just give me a chance! Agree to go on _one_ date with me before you push me aside!!”

Kara intervened, clearly more than weary of the sexual harassment. Spinning around in her chair by the window, she hissed pointedly, “North’s _clearly_ rejected you and still rejecting you strongly, Markus!! Can’t you just leave her be?!”

Nodding in agreement, Connor shrewdly added, “She’s sending a message, Markus; move oooonnn!!”

As he sang this out slightly off tune, everyone laughed heartily while Markus moved away and left before muttering that he was already late for his first class.

Despite things turning quite serious at times, Nines still found he was welcome like a member of a family. This was his rightful place; his home, practically, and he felt absolutely warm internally. They’d all shared plenty of jokes, plenty of sad times, tears, and struggles, but that’d been what pulled them and drew them all closer together. He was never going to let this go.

“Connor, didn’t you have a student coming in to discuss one of your mid-term projects?”

As Josh had asked this while Simon still gazed forlornly out the door Markus had walked through moments ago, Connor gasped and shot up like a dart.

“Shoot!!” Waving his arms, he cried, “I’ll see you guys later!!”

“Bye, Connor!!” Kara, North, Simon, and Josh all waved him ‘goodbye’. Reluctantly, the other android instructors rose from their seats before gathering their items for their classes. This semester, a lot of their courses and schedules had been shifted into different time slots. Nines found he only shared the same ‘break’ block with Connor and North, which fell on every Thursday from 2 p.m. until 3. Other than that, the androids never saw much of each other, save for the mornings if they all arrived early.

As busy as they all were, they still managed to send each other goofy jokes through texts, emails, and sometimes communicated telepathically after interfacing. They had to be really cautious with the last mode of communication, however, as the Dean of the University-Jeffrey Fowler-didn’t really appreciate that. As of the beginning of last semester, the angry man restricted, and then banned all android interfacing in his university. Although Jeffrey Fowler appeared to be a good man with a sensible head on his shoulders, he wasn’t the greatest when it came to paranoia and androids. Even though he knew how androids operated, it appeared that he didn’t trust them enough to allow them to communicate unbeknownst to him.

Thus, he’d limited their communication methods this way, and instead, everyone had to use the old-fashioned email or text, which could be easily monitored as long as they all used the university’s Wi-Fi.

It was all just a means for Jeffrey Fowler staying in control, but Nines didn’t care either way. His prerogative was to complete his work to the best of his abilities each and every day, and that was what he promised he’d do without another distraction in his way.

Standing swiftly, he waved at North when he passed her in the hall, and he paced to the left, moving down a large staircase that would eventually bring him to a door. That wooden door opened up to lecture room A and B, both connected to seat at least three-hundred-and-fifty students. Just the perfect size for his class.

When he walked in, he felt the grace of the rays of the sun seeping into the lecture room through the large, crystal clear windows across the door. At the very front center of the room stood a dark lectern, and high above it was a projector. All Nines had to do was connect himself to the projector by ‘interfacing’ with it at a different level as he did with other androids, but it was how he often delivered his presentations, notes, videos, and projects for his class.

The motion sensor lights blared on, next, and as Nines stood by the desk diagonally placed behind the lectern, he stood tall and proud. Awaiting the most learned and punctual of his students to begin piling in at any minute, the android checked to see that all the dark seats were clean and tucked back against the recently renovated and replaced rows of long desks. The wood was so fresh that the potent odors were overpowering. The wood was a light shade in color, a mix between cream and light brown. The lights above beamed down brightly when paired with the sun, and Nines felt his spirits soaring.

The clock finally ticked on 8:30 a.m. sharp, and Nines knew the first of his most studious and most self-aware students would be piling in for _Social Psychology_.

He could hardly keep the smile off his face as the lecture room doors slowly creaked open.

~--~^~--~^~--~

The projector whirred and beamed as silently as possible, the PowerPoint presentations quickly loading when Nines revealed his android skin and pressed it against the hand pad attached to the side of his desk that was for professors and android lecturers to unlock. All his previous PowerPoints fired up, and as he sorted through them in alphabetic order, the last of his students filed in.

As usual, majority of them were sleepy, their bed-headed hair matted to their foreheads and skulls, and they sat with their cups of coffee and tea steaming about and rising in the air. The most fastidious and studious ones sat right in the first row of long desks, eager to obviously be close enough to see the PowerPoint and hear him well enough. The more ‘laid back’ students who were only taking the course to fill up their timetables sat at the back, hardly ever opening their laptops lest it was for the purposes of creating a shield so they could check their phones constantly.

Well. As much as Nines wished he could drag some students towards obtaining higher than passing grades, he knew that they were all adults, and they had the right to choose how they wished to study, if they wished to study, and if they wanted to care enough to work harder in his classes. Altogether, the android’s psychology courses were quite fast paced for an undergraduate level, something which Fowler didn’t particularly enjoy. Though he’d advised the professor to take it slowly, Nines deliberately disobeyed.

He knew the students wouldn’t learn much if he slowed down and ‘dumbed down’ his presentations and lecture contents. Already, quite a few of his students confessed to him that they wished to major in psychology, and pursue post-graduate degrees in the field. He wasn’t going to provide for his students anything less than the best. After all, they’d paid good tuition fees for this. Anything less was disloyal in his eyes, and a great disservice to them all.

Waiting until the last two students strolled in as though they owned the world, Nines cleared his throat and smiled politely. “Good morning, everyone! Last week, we had a brief introduction to ‘culture and society’, and today, we’re going to dive into more complex and intricate parts of our social constructs that we may take for granted every day, yet these symbols and notions hold a lot of value to us whether we know it or not…”

His students immediately opened their laptops and began typing hurriedly when he moved onto the first slide.

With pride, he presented the topic, overjoyed at the way he’d arranged and organized the headers and definitions in his presentation to read so succinctly and perfectly well that it should’ve been quite easy to grasp by just about anyone.

“Looking deeply at how people interact in their status groups, we will be examining a new terminology today. Status symbols are material indicators that demonstrate a person’s social and economic position. Thorstein Veblen-one of the main pioneers in the study of status symbols-came up with the brilliant term known as conspicuous consumption.”

That’d been the highlighted term, and as Nines moved onto the next slide, the doors at the far back opened.

Frowning when he squinted and zeroed in on the usual two students who were always late and badly organized, he sighed as he leaned against the lectern and eyed the rebellious students in disappointment.

“Mr. Howe, Mr. Reed; my classes begin at eight-thirty in the morning; not whenever you both see fit for it to begin.” Eyeing the two with contempt, he knew that while they weren’t exactly close friends, the two boys sat in the back, often, playing with their phones or using their laptops to play online games instead of paying attention. Their grades were slipping to the point where Nines was certain he’d have to warn them both about failing. It was quite devastating. No professor who valued his or her reputation would dare allow a student to fail. It would be tracked and put on record permanently, and the reputation of that professor would be forever tarnished.

Nines didn’t wish to toy with that and test the waters. He was worried about both boys, but Gavin Reed was by far the only person in Nines’ entire teaching career that he’d given up on. He hated to admit it, but the nineteen-year-old was a pure menace. A damn brat, to be precise, and Nines wondered just _how_ it came to be that Gavin Reed in all his stupidity managed to even make it into his courses. And yet, the odd youth had, and he’d filled up majority of his timetable with any course Nines offered this semester. Nines had initially thought of proposing the idea to Jeffrey Fowler that there should’ve been a grade cut-off point for entry requirements into his classes, but he knew how Fowler would respond to that idea.

Fowler wanted to enroll as many students as possible, but for the remuneration he would obtain; not because he cared about actual education delivery and quality. It was all a matter of conflicting interests, and since Nines wished to promote himself to a higher status in the university, he kept his mouth shut and just tolerated it as best as he could. Internally, he was seething and raging at the boys, but he felt that Gavin Reed was the worst out of all the bratty students he’d taught in his four years at the university.

While Morgan Howe was still a mess of a human being, the long-haired blonde with soft green eyes and tanned, freckled skin couldn’t even hold a candle to Gavin Reed’s unmitigated stupidity and insanity. Morgan Howe at least dressed half decently and half normal; Gavin Reed didn’t even manage to do _that_.

Nines’ colleagues often sat about and joked in regards to what Gavin would wear per week. At the beginning of last semester, Gavin walked in on the first day wearing heavy eyeliner and a skirt over his torn, tattered black jeans. The adolescent was always trying to make some sort of an odd statement, be it in terms of fashion or his hair and makeup. He often kept his hair trimmed short, but he’d slightly grown it out recently so the bangs hung down into his eyes over his forehead. The back was still short, but he’d buzzed a strange pattern into it at the back of the skull that looked like some arrow rising up and pointing into the air. He’d pierced his ears, eyebrows, and he’d accrued at least one tattoo on his left forearm. Sometimes, he wore bright pastel colors, other times, dark leather.

The boy was just odd, and frankly, quite rude. He often spoke back to Nines in class, and very quickly, the android learned that it was best to just turn away from whatever the heck Gavin Reed was doing. As long as he pretended not to notice, Gavin was content, and he’d often hang around in the back of rows and in the large auditorium-like lecture rooms doing who-knew-what. Nines didn’t care, as long as the room wasn’t set on fire or exploded. Gavin Reed could do as he pleased.

Strangely, the youth turned in a lot of his assignments, and he seemed to have enough time to participate and become involved in other campus activities. Gavin Reed was a part of the undergraduate student council, often marching up and down the halls of certain department buildings with crazy signs held up in the air protesting and arguing for something. The boy was a feminist, and an LGBTQ activist. He fought for more student rights, fought for cuts to student tuition and loans, and he stated he wished for smaller class sizes and fair rights to education.

Admirable…but also stupid and gullible.

His grades were abysmal, more so than Morgan Howe’s, but Nines didn’t have the stomach nor the patience to deal with Gavin Reed. As long as he passed, Nines was content with that. He knew he had to be extra cautious around Morgan, however, seeing as the boy had ADHD and anger issues. Nines liked to hold himself to the higher standard that he was as accommodating as he could be for all types of learners, and he always set time aside for Morgan whenever the young man needed it.

Right now, however, Nines knew they were falling behind. He couldn’t wait too long.

Crossing his long limbs over his chest, he sighed, “Tardiness? What’s the excuse today, Morgan?”

The long-haired youth shrugged, but otherwise tugged down his heavy metal band shirt and opened his laptop anyway. Nines hoped he would take notes…

“With your permission, gentlemen, I’d like to continue!!”

Somewhere out of his peripheral vision, he saw Gavin sitting back with his legs kicked in the air. Those same muddy feet lay across the surface of the desk, and as Nines watched on in horror, Gavin withdrew from his pocket a small mirror and lipstick. He applied the ruby red makeup over his lips, puckering up before his own reflection…

“Professor Nines?”

A female student’s shy voice snapped him back to attention. Breaking out of his reverie, Nines cleared his throat again, and he went on.

“Like I was saying earlier before we were interrupted, conspicuous consumption is the act of purchasing expensive goods and materials for the acquisition and display of extreme wealth simply because they are valuable; not because there’s an innate satisfaction in them.”

Right away, a most confused look came over Morgan’s face. The young man shot his arm up high in the air. “Professor?” Waving it like a flag, he cried, “I don’t get this stuff!”

Resisting the urge to sigh, Nines called back to him, “That’s because you were late, Morgan.”

“No,” the youth argued back vehemently, “I seriously don’t get any of it.”

“Did you complete the assigned readings?”

Shifting uncomfortably, Morgan replied, “Yeah…”

Nines was aware that the young man was lying, but he ignored it. “Very well,” he began softly, “if you like, we can discuss whatever you’re not understanding right after class.”

“Cool.”

A loud ‘snap’ echoed in the back, and as majority of the class spun around in their seats, Gavin Reed held his firmly shut pocket mirror in his left hand. Glancing up, he gazed about himself at everyone else, and he winked flirtatiously at the front row containing the most studious and most knowledgeable members of the class.

Nines huffed, “Do you have something to add, Mr. Reed?” He didn’t know why, but he was feeling quite antsy since Gavin showed up this morning.

Lipstick covered lips puckered and pursed, Gavin shook his head.

As usual; the boy was only interrupting because he could, and because he knew Nines never punished or disciplined him for it.

So be it.

After a few seconds dedicated to typing, Morgan froze. A disgruntled expression appeared on his face, and then he gazed at Nines, his laptop, Nines, the floor, his laptop, the desk, at Nines again, and then at the laptop for one final time.

“Duuuude, this shit doesn’t make sense!!!”

A few students giggled at Morgan’s lack of restraint, but Nines thought it was far from charming.

“What doesn’t make sense, Morgan?”

Scowling, the young man’s nose scrunched up, and then his eyebrows clenched together tightly before he spat, “Like…can I get an example?”

“Certainly,” Nines began, pointing at the young man’s black shirt. “Well, for example, Veblen would argue that purchasing a brand shirt well over a hundred dollars because you wish to be seen by others wearing such an expensive designer shirt is motivation enough. The satisfaction is not the product’s functionality; the product is a means to an end. The status it represents in the eyes of society and wields is the main target and motivating factor.”

Keys on keyboards tapped and fingers fluttered, though Morgan remained in his highly confused state.

Pressing on, Nines changed the slides as he summarized them. “Veblen states that people often wish to be perceived as living one social class stratum above where they actually live. As such, you can expect to see certain behavior patterns such as conspicuous leisure-the demonstration of one’s high social status through forms of leisure, as well as conspicuous waste-the disposal of valuable goods to demonstrate high wealth.”

….

“Yeah, I still don’t get that shit, dude. Sorry.” Morgan huffed, and then turned away from his laptop, swinging his legs as he stared up at the ceiling in boredom.

Temper slightly irritable, now, Nines hissed, “Please mind your language, Morgan; we will discuss this right after class, okay?”

“It’s almost nine, man.”

Nines wheezed painfully, “I know. I saw the time, Morgan. Just hang in there, alright?”

As he spun back towards the lectern, when he faced the class, this time, he caught Gavin Reed’s bright red lips puckering again, and he blew his professor a kiss.

~--~^~--~^~--~

Nines walked down the halls with Morgan Howe trailing behind himself, and he bowed his head at other alumni, other faculty members, and he nodded respectfully at PhD candidate student Eliza Bateman. The young Asian woman held a lot of promise in her future and research in the field of Child Development Psychology. She was studying directly under the head of the school of graduate studies in psychology, and she was a good mentor for the undergraduate students. Nines hadn’t spoken to her much due to a lack of time, but he paused briefly in the halls now and stopped her.

“Ms. Bateman,” came his kind tone, “I just wanted to take a few moments of your time and congratulate you on your most recent publication.”

Dark eyes sweeping over him in great honor, the young woman just shy of twenty-four-years who happened to set the ultimate record for obtaining her bachelor’s degree in less than two years beamed in pride at his words of praise.

“You read my research, Professor Nines?”

He nodded, “Of course I did! It was quite exhilarating!”

When Morgan’s shoes scraped and shifted along the floors loudly, Nines knew the young man was already fidgeting about impatiently. That meant that he didn’t have enough time to stand by idly and chit chat, unfortunately.

Eyeing his office not even ten feet away, he sighed, “Well, perhaps I’ll stop by your office for a chat some other time, Ms. Bateman?”

Waving at him, she readjusted her laptop bag to sling over her thin arm. “Good day, Professor!”

“Take care.”

Quickly, he unlocked and opened his office door, and when the lights turned on, he pulled out a chair before his large desk.

“Sit down then, Mr. Howe.”

Obediently, Morgan paced towards the chair, but then at the last minute, he decided to turn and head into the direction of the large white sofa Nines propped against the wall on the left-side of the office. Above that white leather sofa hung a famous painting inspired by English poet William Blake’s book titled _‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’_. A few plants and an aquarium of fish stood about across the sofa, and Morgan gaped at the brightly colored fish.

Tapping on the tank, he cooed, “Wooooaaah, neat, man!”

“Mr. Howe,” Nines sighed, trying to pry the youth away from scaring off his exotic, expensive pets. “Please…” Gesturing at the sofa, he waited until Morgan plopped his weight down on it.

Finally.

Drumming his fingers on his kneecaps while Nines sat on the empty chair he’d initially offered for Morgan to take, the impatient young man played with the tips of his long hair gathered into a tight ponytail.

Ignoring Morgan’s odd idiosyncrasies, Nines sat down and offered a tiny smile. “So, what would you like to go over, Morgan?”

Slowing down in his drumming, Morgan replied, “Like…your lecture today, man, it was good, but I think I’m way too dumb for this course because I didn’t really understand anything.”

Jokingly, Nines stated, “My classes are offered in English, Morgan, but you shouldn’t refer to yourself in such self-deprecating ways.”

Pausing for a second, Morgan answered back, “I feel it’s true, though. I feel very shitty when other peeps my age get this stuff, and I don’t. I think there’s a lot wrong with me.”

Crossing a leg over the other, Nines sat back comfortably. “Well, I can see why you’re frustrated,” he began, slipping into counsellor mode more than he’d liked, “but believe me, you shouldn’t compare yourself to all the others because you’re unique.”

“Nah, I think I’m just retarded.”

“Morgan, please don’t use that word again,” Nines sighed irritably, “it’s quite demeaning, and frankly, I believe that when people compare themselves far too often to others as opposed to embracing their own personal identity, they lose agency as they submit to barmecide.”

Eyes wider than saucers, Morgan’s jaw fell. “Wooooah, like…what’s all that mean, man?”

Nines picked off a loose thread from his dress pants. “Barmecide is defined as illusory or imaginary and therefore disappointing. When you open yourself up to that, since these illusions don’t exist anywhere other than in your head space, you’ll suffer.” Tilting himself back as the chair gave out a squeak, he asked, “Do you follow what I mean, Morgan?”

Suddenly, loud laughter and feet stomped around outside the office in the hall. It was a horrible interruption, and it frustrated Morgan to no end.

Gripping the seats, he cried out strongly, “Professor, can you please close the door? I can’t focus.”

“Certainly.” Standing and crossing the distance towards the office door, Nines shut it tightly, effectively drowning out all the unnecessary noises.

Better.

As he sat back down, Morgan cried out in panic, “Shit…I’m gonna fail, aren’t I?”

Nines froze. “I never stated that, Morgan; please don’t jump to conclusions and lose focus.”

“I can’t help it, man!” The youth screamed out as he grew red in the face, “I study a lot like you told us to do, but no matter what, nothing sinks into my head!! My mom tells me I am dumb, my dad tells me I’ll fail, and when all my friends brag about gettin’ top grades, of course it makes me feel like utter shit!!” As he pounded the sofa seats, Nines felt the situation slowly spiraling out of control. Wanting to gain back that lost semblance of control, Nines rose from his seat.

Morgan watched him in silence, but the pained expression never departed from his eyes. It made Nines feel terribly about the situation, but he was more of a problem-solver in his approach to all sensitive issues.

LED light blue, he smiled fondly at Morgan. “I was told a joke once many years ago, and I’d like to share it with you because I feel it applies here in our lessons. Are you ready for it?”

His pupil barely nodded, and Nines took this as a sign to commence.

Leaning up against the top part of his sofa, he said, “The rich people in society copulate less often than the poor, but when they do, they take more of their clothes off.”

His student’s eyebrows rose to his hairline as he leaned back and chuckled, “Maaan, what?! The hell’s ‘copulate’ mean?”

LED light yellow, Nines extrapolated, “To have sex.”

“Oh,” Morgan paused, and then asked, “so all together, it means…?”

Nonplussed about his pupil’s confusion, Nines gathered his patience and smiled. “It took me years of research to compare to this dictum, and now I can say: ‘aha! This fits the norm!’” Pausing, he stared at the ceiling as he continued, “Or, ‘oooh, this is variation from it!’ But what does it mean?” 

His student shrugged weakly.

Nines held out his hands, “Nothing. It was just a foolish joke someone passed along to me years ago that simply took up far too much room inside my head because I _allowed_ it.”

The young man seated on his sofa gaped, “Oooh, kinda like me and my life, then…”

Sliding himself down next to the youth, Nines nodded. “Somebody told _you_ , and you hold it as an article of faith that higher education and the psychological pursuit of it is an unassailable good due to your constant putting down of yourself. This notion is so dear to you, that when I question it, you become angry.”

Taken aback, the student could only murmur, “Shit…you’re right, man…”

“Good! Good,” Nines repeated, “for aren’t these the things we should question? Doesn’t that imply self-care and the promise of self-actualization?”

Pointing at himself slowly, Morgan whispered, “That…that means that I need to stop listening to others?”

Clapping his hands together, Nines barked out, “Exactly. Start having more faith in yourself and your own personal capabilities! You needn’t rely on the words of others to get by, I promise you that one.”

A smile finally graced Morgan’s features. Apparently relieved, he gathered his black bag into his hands and held it against his chest while standing up. “That actually helped a lot, Professor,” he thanked Nines in gratitude, “thanks!”

“Very good,” Nines stated as he stood from his own seat and made his way to the door. “Email me or feel free to post your other questions in the class instant chat later tonight, but for now, I’m afraid I have to let you go, Morgan.” Opening the door, he held it wide open for the young man.

“I have another class to prepare for, but as always, I’m here if you need my assistance.”

“Cool,” Morgan waved at him as he paced away from the office. “See ya, man!!”

Nines again shut the office door, wanting to savor the last ten minutes of his silence before he prepared for his course in _Cognitive Psychology_.

~--~^~--~^~--~

Alone at night in his apartment, Nines gazed at his second aquarium filled with exotic fish. He loved these animals dearly, and he felt quite excited to feed them. Plenty of Clownfish, a few Electric Yellow Labidochromis African Cichlid, a blue tang, schools of Australian Rainbowfish, and a couple of Hermit Crabs scuttled and swam about as their meal was dropped into the wide, large tank. The crabs peeked out at him from the protective shelter of their shells, and Nines chuckled as he wiped his hands and stepped away so his fish could feast and enjoy their privacy.

Making his way into the den, he shut off every light in his neat, orderly apartment. Everything was kept in a rightful place, but the abode felt too empty and cloistered at the same time, oddly. Nines supposed such feelings only came to him because he lived alone, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Loneliness and solitude were something he found he preferred, but it sure had its ‘sad’ moments.

Trying not to let that weigh him down, Nines checked his emails, and when he found he was all caught up as he needed to be, he went over his PowerPoint slides for the next classes again. As he sat before his open laptop, the class instant chat app he’d been a part of creating and implementing for the entire Psychology department sat open and running already. He often kept it that way to be as available to his students as possible.

While Jeffrey Fowler stated he wasn’t too fond of the app itself, he came to appreciate it when student feedback reports were submitted indicating that the app was a huge success and was highly popular due to how simple it was to use and download. Even Morgan didn’t have any issues with it.

The app itself acted almost like an instant messenger sort of forum. Every student had to sign in using their Wayne State University student I.D. number, a password, and then they would have to select among all their psychology courses the chat room they wished to load and navigate. From there on, it was rather self-explanatory, and everyone found they learned better through this unique form of communication and discussion.

Nines was the ‘moderator’ as much as he could be, accessing all the psychology course chat rooms at a time while answering questions. No one took it too far by abusing the feature, but lately, students joked around a little. Nines allowed it as long as it wasn’t too inappropriate and wasn’t distracting enough.

While he’d been listening to the bubbling and soothing sounds emanating from his aquarium, the speakers of his large laptop blared on. It was the familiar sound of someone popping open a private chat window.

Eyes swooping down, Nines noticed that under the title of ‘ _Social psychology_ ’, Morgan Howe had initiated a conversation. The student’s active status symbol-a bright green circle-flashed as much as the chat window did, ready and waiting until Nines sent a reply.

Nines quickly read the words displayed on his screen.

 ** Howe, M. 9:13 p.m ** .

_Just wanted 2 say thnsx again sir._

Nines replied back in no time:

** Instructor, 9:14 p.m. **

_My pleasure. Do you have any other questions I can help you in answering?_

A few minutes went by, and Nines noticed the ‘traffic’ of the app dying down as students no doubt prepared to rest before morning visited everyone again.

** Howe, M. 9:19 p.m. **

_i thik im good, but the symbolism stuff was a bit funny to me in class_

** Instructor, 9:20 p.m. **

_Read your notes, and the textbook. If the definitions themselves are giving you trouble, we can discuss them during my regular office hours, Morgan._

All too quickly, the student replied:

** Howe, M. 9:20 p.m. **

_k sure, nite sir_

** Instructor, 9:21 p.m. **

_See you in the morning, Mr. Howe._

When Nines had been about to sign off a few seconds after Morgan’s status symbol shifted from green color to red, another chat window immediately opened up in its place. When he read who the sender was, Nines audibly let out a strained groan.

** Sexkitteh69, 9:23 p.m. **

_Sup teach? ;-)_

Of course, his luck was horrible; it was Gavin Reed.

Nines’ fingers rapidly flew as he responded.

** Instructor, 9:24 p.m. **

_You will address me as ‘Professor Nines’, or you won’t talk to me at all, Mr. Reed. And who told you that you could change your screen name again?!_

It appeared that the obstinate, argute young man had somehow found a way to hack the app once more. A few weeks prior, Gavin’s screen name had been: _Ib6ub9_ , and after hours of trying to crack into the app to figure out how the young man had managed to do this, both Nines and Connor were barely capable of resetting the security features.

Perhaps it was time to boot Gavin Reed entirely from the app…

** Sexkitteh69, 9:30 p.m. **

_relax, proffesor. just tryin’ to make u laugh becuz ur so uptight in class always. u need 2 chill_

Already livid, Nines’ LED light was red as the fires of hell while he practically bashed his keyboard in the process of composing his heated reply.

** Instructor, 9:32 p.m. **

_You’re not in any position to tell me what I need and what I don’t need. Do you understand me?! Now, stop arguing with me; I don’t have time for this foolishness._

** Sexkitteh69, 9:33 p.m. **

_k proffessor. u only had 2 say itonc._

Still angry, Nines retorted with:

** Instructor, 9:35 p.m. **

_You keep misspelling ‘professor’. It has only one ‘f’, Mr. Reed!_

**Sexkitteh69, 9:36 p.m**.

_i thoht u were a psych prof, sir? not an english prof ;D_

** Instructor, 9:36 p.m. **

_Do I need to ban you from the chat server, Mr. Reed?_

Nines was wishing that Gavin would say ‘yes’, just out of spite…for once.

** Sexkitteh69, 9:37 p.m. **

_Noooooo…..ill b gud :-O_

Somehow, Nines doubted that greatly. There was nothing ‘good’ about Gavin Reed; not a single ‘good bone’ in his damn body.

** Instructor, 9:39 p.m. **

_Fine. And stop abusing the emoticon feature!_

** Sexkitteh69, 9:40 p.m. **

_‘abuse’ my achin’ ass! m about 2 abuse myself, if u no wat i mean…_

Skipping past the horrifically sexual implications, Nines fought to remain calm.

** Instructor, 9:41 p.m. **

_Just fix the god damn screen name, Mr. Reed! Goodnight!_

He didn’t even stick around to see whether Gavin had replied; he immediately logged off and shut down his laptop. The entire night, Nines remained in a most rageful state for the first time in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nines isn't as scrupulous as he perhaps should be.


	3. Twisted Root

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The piece Carl was playing in his apartment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ka61YBmOD0
> 
> And the song Gavin was listening to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBvwcH4XX6U  
> (I am also posting the German AND English lyrics if anyone’s interested) : http://herzeleid.com/en/lyrics/reise_reise/mein_teil
> 
> STRONG Word of caution: Be careful with the music video and the actual case it was based on if you’re going to be looking into it on your own. It seriously DID happen, and it isn’t something I made up, sadly.

The following morning, Nines woke earlier than anticipated. Breaking himself out of stasis, the energetic android was far too thrilled to go about his day, even though he carried through the exact same routine as he’d repetitively gone over for the last four years. He downloaded the morning news, checked his alerts, emails, and notifications. When all that was clear as a whistle, he read through some funny online joke boards and threads while dressing himself up in a neatly ironed, brand-new dress shirt, red tie, black dress pants, and dark dress shoes with tiny laces. Nines felt his mood shift into a more positive one almost automatically.

Today was going to be a good day; he could practically taste and feel it already. The weather reports indicated that it was supposed to be a one hundred percent purely sunny day, and not a single white or grey cloud was to be found in the sky. The winds measured between thirty and fifty kilometers an hour in speeds. Quite gentle; not even harming a single solitary leaf too weak in comparison to the rest of its brethren.

Nines held a bright, wide smile onto his face when he collected his overcoat and keys. Pocketing them swiftly, he’d barely opened his front door when he heard gentle music soaring in the air. Pausing, he recognized it instantly. It was Chopin for a moment, and then switched to Claude Debussy quickly. Only one person in his entire apartment building played Chopin and Debussy.

It was his neighbor, a retired, elderly former fine art and painting instructor known as Carl Manfred. The senior citizen lived four doors down from Nines’ apartment, and he was quite a gentleman in every sense of the word. Owning a natural talent and propensity for empathy and art-both skills he wielded equally as strong as each other-Carl was quite the breath of fresh air. Nines often enthusiastically looked forward to their evening and occasional weekend morning chats. Usually, he always visited the senior citizen in his apartment, not wanting to make Carl uncomfortable or feel otherwise troubled.

And Nines always had good reasons to.

Carl kept majority of his artwork dear and close to his heart. Since the poor man had unfortunately been taken advantage of and robbed blind by his estranged, violent son Leo a few years back, he hardly ventured and strayed from his apartment. Carl had unfortunately developed agoraphobia and social anxiety as a result of his attack. He also displayed other symptoms normally associated with victims of PTSD, but Nines didn’t want to diagnose him. To reduce such a refined, dignified gentleman and artist he admired so callously was vicious and inelegant.

Nines seriously valued his friendship with Carl, and Carl trusted him. That’s all that mattered to him, and he wasn’t going to abuse the trust he’d been granted. Plus, it didn’t hurt that he appreciated fine art! Visiting Carl often gifted the android professor with the wondrous opportunity to view the current art pieces he was working on…all for free!!

As Nines paused before Carl’s door, he raised a hand, and he rapped his knuckles against the old wood. A few moments later, the music’s volume had been lowered. Nines heard shuffling, and then the locking mechanism of the door came undone.

The door gently opened, and Nines found himself staring into a pair of sapient, blue eyes. Though they were many shades less colorful and vibrant than his own, they held a mystical smile within them before the older man stepped back to open the door even wider.

“Nines, good morning!” Taking up a welcoming stance, he stood there in his grey slippers, dressed warmly and snugly in a blue and grey striped night robe he hadn’t shrugged off yet. His voice seemed a bit strained, but it’d only been due to a nasty cough Carl had developed over the years.

As the music continued to play, Nines smirked.

“Shh, shh!” Carl held up an index finger to his lips, and then he chuckled. “And this one is?”

“Simple,” came Nines’ response to the age-old game of ‘guess the classical piece’. “It’s _Prelude Number four: Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir_ by Claude Debussy.”

Clasping his hands together, Carl howled pleasantly as he rang out, “Oooh, perfect French, monsieur Nines!!! Perfect as always!!”

“No such thing exists, Carl.” Nines paced inside the warm home, studying the wild plants Carl had grown himself poking up front flowerbeds and pots. Their petals and branches dangled, fanning everything in sight as they’d grown even more since the last time Nines had dropped by for a visit.

Carl’s kitchen held a few dishes and mugs, but was otherwise clean and shiny. Impeccable as always; the older man’s living room had been decorated with pottery, other famous paintings, musical instruments, as well as a large aviary of android birds. They were all in stasis when Nines walked in, however, their blue LED lights blinked on and off as they sat about on their perches within the golden cage. The walls were painted in an off-white color, and a huge number of murals and canvases with sheets draped over them resembling little ghosts stood before mirrors and glass. Nines’ image and reflection became distorted, almost as though he’d been prancing through some odd Fun House one could normally locate and find in a carnival or circus display.

Smile fondly at the latest ‘piece’ Carl seemed to be working on, Nines paused and hummed deeply while Carl walked up beside him.

Right there on the canvas happened to be a large burst of color. Perhaps it was a fire, but the flames were blue, green, and yellow. They faded up above and off to the side in splashes of pink, purple, and orange. In the center was some black tar or mold, and Carl had designed it so that it popped out among the other colors. It was apparently the ‘focal point’ of the entire piece, and a black button seemed to be in the center of the blackness. Everything else spun around it like a whirlpool, the vortex practically set to devour and consume everything in sight…

Slamming a hand down on his shoulder, Carl grunted, “So! What’s your verdict?”

Craning his neck from side to side to examine it from multiple angles, Nines sighed, “I don’t really know what to say, Carl!”

“How about: ‘it’s very damn good’?” the older man joked, causing Nines to smile while the sun shone through the balcony windows.

Shrugging, Nines asked, “What inspired it?”

Staring at his work, Carl’s face took on a frightened expression. Taking his time, he finally answered, “Fear. Fear can do you a heck of a lot, Nines.”

Eyebrows flying up, Nines repeated, “Fear? What’re you afraid of, Carl?”

Concerned that the old man had been threatened by Leo in spite of the restraining order Carl had placed on his own son, Nines was more than willing to arrange to have a ‘chat’ with the younger Manfred if he wasn’t going to respect the terms and conditions of the restraining order. He cared for Carl dearly, and he wasn’t going to allow anyone to trifle with the elderly man’s sense of security and calm. Family or not, it didn’t matter when Carl’s life was being threatened.

Shaking his head, Carl groused, “It’s just old age, Nines. Things were a lot different when I was younger.” Walking around the canvas surrounding his furniture like an obstacle course, he wiped his paint-stained fingers on his robe. “I felt a lot faster, braver, tougher, and more arrogant those days…like no matter what, nothing was going to keep me down; I was going to do as I wanted whenever I wanted.”

Nines hummed, “I understand that fear, especially when your sense of trust was tested and badly compromised by people who were supposed to stay loyal to you since they were bound to you by blood.”

Pausing for a moment, Carl then threw his head back and barked out a tiny laugh. The laughter seemed to consume him, billowing out of his throat and seeping into the warm air blasting all over the apartment. Carl’s kind eyes let Nines know that he wasn’t be laughed at or mocked; Carl was simply amused, and perhaps a tad bit frustrated.

When he caught his breath, the artist sighed, straightened his posture as best as he could, and leaned next to a large mannequin bearing strange clothes Carl himself had no doubt stitched and pieced together.

“Nines,” he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, obvious amounts of pain flooding into his system as he struggled to even stand. “I honestly haven’t been doing so well, old friend.”

Nodding, Nines commented in a non-standoffish way, “I figured, Carl. I’m sorry.”

Grunting, Carl brushed his hands against his robe, and then slid them deeply into the pockets. Bunching up his shoulders, he appeared so large, suddenly. “You don’t suppose you could maybe…you know?” he coughed uncomfortably for a moment and kept his eyes on Nines steadfastly.

“…It sucks that I have to ask ya this, but I…”

Hanging his head low, Nines sadly replied, “I’m sorry, Carl. I resigned from being a psychiatrist a long time ago, and I wish to only be here and support you as a friend; not a therapist.”

Not many people knew of Nines’ past as a psychiatrist, and frankly, the android preferred keeping it that way. In the year 2038, Nines hadn’t actually remained in Detroit City for long. After CyberLife shut its doors down, and after he became a complete deviant, the android moved to Europe. There, right in the heart of Scotland, he’d made his first home. He quickly studied and passed all the exams and certification requirements to practice as a therapist, but after a few months of conducting his own private practice, Nines just…stopped.

He could hardly believe it, himself. He’d once learned about and treated many patients, and he’d been pretty skilled in the art of psychology, and the medical field of psychiatry. But then…he just remembered that he’d stopped. Departing from Scotland with sadness in his mind, he settled back in Detroit with his lucrative credentials and impressive resume, all of which landed him his teaching position at the university. There were pieces of his past he couldn’t remember, and perhaps wouldn’t ever remember, but it seemed much, _much_ more pleasant living in the present. At least things were bright and cheerful.

Merrily, Nines offered a generous smile to Carl before the other man sighed, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate everything you do for me, Nines.” Waving his hands about, he gestured at himself, “Not everyone would want to put up with a bumbling old dog like me, but you’ve been loyal by my side for a while, and I just wanted to say: ‘thank you’.”

“No need to thank me,” Nines cut in quickly, trying not to give off a rude impression when he finally recalled what the time currently was.

As if sensing his minor impatience, Carl gently placed both his hands on Nines’ shoulders and gave him a reassuring pat. “Come see me later, kiddo,” he smirked coyly as he led Nines back to the front door. “I’d love another chat!!”

“Right,” Nines pointed thickly before he walked backwards out into the hall. “And remember, if Leo-or _anyone’s_ giving you a rough time, Carl, you come tell me, you got it?”

In the momentary pause that hung between them, Nines was fearful that Carl would either close himself off, reject the offer, or snap at him, and all because he’d mentioned ‘Leo’. He knew that was a sore, sensitive spot for Carl, and he’d wanted to apologize for his brash rudeness and inappropriate assumptions, when Carl quickly stepped out into the hall and hugged him.

“I’ll try, kiddo, but I can’t promise you much.”

At the very least, he’d at least obtained some minor relief, and Nines was grateful.

Not wanting to push his luck, he bid his old friend farewell, and reminded him to carefully lock his door.

~--~^~--~^~--~

“Heute treff’ ich einen herrn,

Der hat mich zum fressen gern,

Weiche teile und auch harte,

Stehen auf der speisekarte…”

Nines swept past the fifth row of desks in lecture room E and F later that morning. He’d been trying to gather everything in order, both for his upcoming lecture, as well as class discussion. Today, he was teaching _Criminology and Abnormal Psychology_ , one of his most popular courses. At least three-hundred students were already seated about, chatting softly, watching videos, exchanging random jokes, taking notes, reviewing their notes, and just drinking coffee and other light beverages.

However, among them all, Gavin Reed had plopped himself down in the fourth row of red seats, the cushions as soft as the ones often found in movie theaters. As he sat, he held his phone in his hands, and he was listening to music and singing along with the lyrics. They were in German, and while Nines knew exactly what they all meant, he’d never heard of the band responsible for the music, and he seriously had no idea why Gavin was murmuring them.

Churning side to side in his seat, the youth wore tattered blue jeans, dark sneakers on his feet that held more mud on them than anything Nines had ever witnessed, and on top of it all, Gavin wore a red plastic raincoat. He drew the hood up over his head as though it were seriously raining indoors, and Nines thought he looked beyond ridiculous.

Grazing past him, Nines swooped down and glared into his phone.

“Denn du bist, was du isst! Und ihr wisst, was es ist, es ist mein teil!!! Nein!”

Clearing his throat, Nines was aware that majority of the class had been watching them closely, but Gavin-stuck in his own little fantasy world-didn’t notice, and even if he had, he clearly didn’t mind having an audience to entertain.

Throwing his head back, he screamed at the ceiling, “Mein teil!! Nein! Da, das ist mein teil! Nein!!! Mein teil!! Nein!!”

Having reached his capacity for Gavin’s annoyance and egregious stupidity for the day, Nines inched a finger towards Gavin’s Apple AirPods, and he yanked one of them out of the young man’s ears.

At once, Gavin blinked at him, though not a semblance of shock or surprise came over his makeup-free face. “Sup, professor?”

Motioning at the phone and AirPods, Nines hissed thinly, “Would you kindly cease listening to borderline sadistic music in my class, Mr. Reed?! You’re causing the other students to grow nervous!!”

“Waaa??” Now, Gavin’s jaw fell as a look of sheer surprise and pain flooded his features. “Professor!” he gaped, “you can’t say that stuff about _Rammstein_!! That’s illegal!!”

At the sound of the German band’s infamous name, a few students muttered, while others shrugged and then turned away.

Teeth clenched together, Nines inquired-albeit reluctantly, “Why on Earth are you listening to such music for, anyway?”

“For Professor Connor’s class,” the reply snapped back without a shred of deception evident in Gavin’s tone.

Nines practically choked. “For Professor _Connor’s class_?” Was he hearing things?!

Gavin only nodded cheekily. “Yep! It’s for his _Alternative Music History_ class; fun class. You should take it sometime!!”

Patience growing thin, Nines icily threw out, “So Professor Connor is allowing you to disrupt other classes just to listen to music?” What a laugh. He couldn’t believe it, but he made a quick mental note to speak with Connor later.

Gavin shook his head, “Nah; it’s for his assignment.”

“What on Earth kind of assignment is this, then?!”

Ignoring his question for a moment, Gavin half-growled-half sang out, “Die stumpfe klinge gut und recht! Ich blute stark und mir ist schlecht! Muss ich auch mit der ohnmacht kämpfen, ich esse weiter unter krämpfen!”

Nines cringed. “Your German’s completely off, and you have yet to answer my question, Mr. Reed.”

“Ist doch so gut gewürzt, und so schön flambiert, und so liebevoll auf porzellan serviert! Dazu ein guter wein, und zarter kerzenschein!”

Nines sighed, “This is—”

Holding up his phone, Gavin presented his professor with the music video associated with the song. It was dark, brutal, sexual, perverse, insane, psychotic, and messy. And Nines had only seen three seconds of it…

Glaring into his student’s eyes, he quickly hissed, “Ja da lass ich mir zeit, etwas kultur muss sein…”

Squealing, Gavin wheezed dryly, “Oh my god!! Professor!! You listen to _Rammstein_ too—”

“The assignment, Mr. Reed,” Nines reminded him curtly, “what is it about?”

Deflating when his stern professor didn’t appear to play in his hand, Gavin groused out, “It’s basically a project where we have to pick a song sung by a foreign band, and then we do some background research on the inspiration behind the song and talk about it in class.”

“I see,” Nines pressed on, “and what’s the significance of _Mein Teil_?”

Fluttering his eyelashes as his body posture straightened, Gavin appeared to be quite eager and excited. “Well, this song is based on the German cannibalism case of Armin Meiwes. Meiwes was a loner and this creepy Internet pervy dude who stalked a lot of young dudes online for the purposes of wanting to eat them…sexually and non-sexually. He later became known as the ‘Rotenburg Cannibal’ or ‘Der Metzgermeister’, which is German for ‘The Master Butcher’.” Gavin purposefully raised the volume of his voice, as though delivering the speech of a lifetime when he knew his classmates were quiet as they listened in terror.

“The guy had serious mommy issues, and over the Internet, he finds this ‘Cannibal café’ board. He started chatting up this guy who apparently wanted to make it his goal in life to have another dude chowin’ down on his meat and bones. So, our boy Meiwes arranged with Bernd Jurgen Armando Brandes to kill and eat him!!”

As majority of the other students looked sick to their stomachs, Nines heaved out, “Fascinating, Mr. Reed, truly awe-inspiring.”

“…Did I mention that Meiwes amputated Brandes’ penis, with his agreement, and the two men attempted to eat it together?”

Nines hissed, “Mr. Reed…”

Skirting over the dangerous growl of a warning, Gavin quickly ranted, “Brandes initially insisted that Meiwes attempt to bite his penis off. This didn’t work, because I sure as shit may be into my fair share of kinky shit, but even I don’t think I could ever bite another dude’s cock off.”

“Reed!!”

Students were now coughing and gagging, but this only encouraged Gavin plenty.

“So, ultimately, Meiwes used a knife to remove Brandes’ dick. Brandes apparently tried to eat some of his own penis raw but couldn’t, because, first off, what the actual ass, and second, it was too tough and, as he put it, ‘chewy’.”

Slamming a hand down on Gavin’s desk, Nines roared, “MR. REED!! HOW DARE YOU—”

“Meiwes then fried the penis in a pan with salt, pepper, wine, and garlic; he then fried it with some of Brandes’ body fat, but by then it was too burnt to be consumed. So what does our Deutsche chef who specializes in ‘cock cuisine’ do, next? Well, I’ll tell you what!”

At once, Nines fisted Gavin’s red raincoat’s hood in a hand, and he scooped up the student’s bag in another. While the rest of the students all gaped about in horror and shock, Nines marched Gavin towards the doors, and he elbowed one of them open.

Before he tossed Gavin forcefully out of the lecture room, however, Gavin poked his head in and shouted, “Bruh! He chopped the penis up into chunks and fed it to his dog! HE LOVES ANIMALS!!! HE AIN’T BAAAAD!!”

The door slammed in on his face at once, and even though he’d been kicked out, Gavin pressed his face against the glass insert. Rearranging his face to form a pouty expression, he whined and pawed at the door like a little lost puppy stuck in the rain, begging to come inside a warm house.

The rest of the students gaped, but a few of the bolder troublemakers snorted as they no doubt found Gavin’s antics priceless.

Timorously, a thin female student with thick glasses who always sat in the front row of Nines’ classes cried out, “Umm, Professor?”

She flinched in her seat when Nines tore himself away from the door and flew back to the front of the room.

“Right!” His screams followed him up to the small rectangular stage, and he turned on the projector. Accidentally, in the heat of his anger and irritation brought to him by the hands of Gavin Reed, he loaded up a paper he’d written for his course in cognitive psychology, instead.

The same shy female student spoke up when Nines failed to realize his fatal error.

“Sir?”

He glared at her, LED light flashing golden in a warning. “Yes?”

With a hand that trembled and shook worse than a lost lamb trying to steady herself on thin legs, she gestured at the screen displaying the PowerPoint largely and vastly for the entire lecture room the size of a small theatre.

Nines felt his patience slipping. “Speak, girl!! We don’t have all day for your muteness!!”

Wincing at his harsh words, she croaked softly, “W-wrong class, Professor…s-sorry…”

Gazing over his shoulder at the screen and projector, Nines required every semblance and every scrap of calm, patience, and self-control not to throw something into a wall in pure anger.

Blasted brat.

~--~^~--~^~--~

North finally was able to catch a quick break. It was almost eleven in the morning, and she’d been running about the campus like a chicken with its head freshly cut off. Her students had recently acquired a new project Kara had been mostly responsible for piecing together, formulating, managing, and grading at the end of the semester. North had gladly stepped down to permit Kara to explain the assignment, what its scope and over all intended purpose was, and how the students would be graded. As such, the female needed a break, and she felt she truly had worked hard enough to earn one.

Trying to take advantage of the solitude the staff lounge provided during this time, North bid Kara farewell until after lunch, and she trekked back towards the place she and the gang usually hung out in during the early mornings.

If she’d been expecting for time to herself, she’d been duped; the staff room was already preoccupied by one other android.

Groaning when she walked in too quickly without scanning, first, she nearly collided into Markus as the male stood about while flexing and stretching by the windows. He was wearing soft blue Nike shorts, white running shoes, as well as a white men’s workout tank top. North tried inching away, but he smirked and wagged an index finger in her face.

“Aren’t you gonna at least say ‘hey, how’s it going?’”

She huffed irritably, “Get out of here, Markus!”

Not at all bothered by her boorish remarks, the android grinned from ear to ear. “It seems like you had a great start to the morning, then! Would you like to talk about it?”

Shaking her head, North retorted, “Not at all interested, Markus.”

“Hmm, then what’re you looking for in here?”

“Some peace and quiet,” she jabbed back quickly, hoping that for _once_ , he’d take the hint.

However, the bright sheen in his eyes told her that he didn’t get it. Or, he didn’t care much. Leaning back against the windowsill, he at least had the decency of giving her some personal, physical space.

The vociferous female kept her watchful eyes on him while she sat down at the large, dark brown bench close by. Propping a clenched fist beneath her chin, she nodded up at him, “What’re you doing here, anyway?”

Shrugging an insouciant shrug, Mark sighed, “Hanging out, I guess. Not a lot of people showed up for my seminar, sooo…” As he raised his voice in a higher pitched tone, his eyebrows soared up as well.

North concluded out loud, “So you came here.”

“Mhm.”

Awkward silence floated up around them, and without even realizing it, North began playing with bits of her fallen hair. She wound the tendrils around her middle and index fingers, curling and curling before releasing the strands to unfurl quickly with momentum. This in and of itself made Markus’ oddly colored eyes sparkle with interest.

After some time, North chewed her lower lip and inched on the edge of the seat of the bench. Instinctively, Markus leaned in as well.

“Do you…” pausing, she frowned, and then started over. “Do you think Nines is seriously seeing someone?”

Markus’ eyelids slowly shut, but it was a move of someone trying to contain and bottle in the last bits of control and patience before they exploded like a deadly, dangerous volcano. Shoulders rolling forward, Markus ground out bitterly, “Why does it matter to you, North?”

The abashed female android blinked down at the floor.

In her silence, Markus chuckled dryly, “Oooh! Let me guess; you’re interested in him. Just…isn’t that pathetic?”

Offended, North sniped loudly, “Shut up! It’s not your business anyway!”

“North,” Markus continued, eyes finally opening as he stood before her, hands planted firmly on his strong hips. “When are you going to get over this ‘Nines’ obsession of yours, and snap to reality?!”

Sneering, North’s jaw quivered as she hissed acerbically, “What’s wrong with liking him? Hmm? He’s the right guy for me! He treats me well, he’s smart, he’s funny, he’s handsome, he’s kind, he’s—”

Sitting down next to her so swiftly that the words caught in her throat, Markus draped his hands behind himself of the surface of the table. From afar, it appeared as though he was going to embrace and hold North. She took notice of it, too, and she only rewarded him with a glare while leaning as far away from him as she could.

Snickering evilly, Markus commented, “Seeing isn’t believing, North. You need to try and look _beyond_ what’s in front of you.”

Sneering sarcastically, she gasped, “Ooooh how smart!! Are you a genius in psychology, now?!” She knew she was being too rude to another colleague, and while this ran past ‘professionalism’, North couldn’t help it. She’d had enough of Markus’ self-righteousness, constant put-downs, overbearing attitude, and over bloated ego.

However, before she could hiss out an insult or two she felt Markus more than deserved, the male android stated, “I’m not a genius here, but I’m just saying that perhaps you don’t know Nines as well as you think, and perhaps the person he’s seeing is—”

Something akin to a wrecking ball and many sticks of dynamite exploding off fired away in her skull at once. She reached out suddenly and seized Markus by the arm, shaking him a little. It did well to grab his attention, and he gaped at her, eyes wide as tiny saucers.

“North?”

“You d-don’t—” She cleared her throat and tried again. “You don’t…I mean, are you suggesting that Nines is—”

The door of the staff room banged open further, knocking into the wall, and it effectively scared the daylights out of North. Markus remained calm, and he only held a red LED light above on his temple while he scowled at the one who’d interrupted.

Visibly softening in his expression, he sighed out, “What’re you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Gavin stumbled about, almost swaying like someone recently and heavily inebriated. He practically missed North and Markus peering at him from inside the staff room, and then he caught himself before he nearly fell into the door. A sickly pale look was about his face, but then he smiled a most dopey smile and scratched away feverishly at his dark brown stubble growing on his face.

“Heeeey guuuyyys!”

Markus’ eyes narrowed, and he scanned the youth at once. “He’s smoked some weed, but he’ll be fine,” he announced to North, who only shook her head in disdain.

As he rose from his seat, Markus pointed thickly at Gavin. “Say, aren’t you one of Professor Nines’ students?”

Gavin only nodded. “Mhmm, buuuut he launched me outta class.”

North and Markus exchanged confused looks.

“Why?”

~--~^~--~^~--~

Nines was still having a persistently difficult time trying to imagine Connor dishing out a project that paved the way for bizarre students like Gavin Reed to search up horrifyingly disgusting and debasing song lyrics, music videos, and then present their findings to the class for grades. The entire premise was absolutely ludicrous, and he wasn’t going to be a fool and believe in such a preposterous notion. If Gavin wished to parade around with his nonsensical ideas and whims, he was free to do so, but not in _his_ class.

As such, Nines pushed those weird thoughts of the weird student aside, and once he’d apologized to his large class for his stupid bumble, he went back to his lecture and project.

Pacing up and down along the length of the wide stage, he boisterously went through the contents of his slides and lecture. Majority of them were all definitions already provided in the course textbook, but Nines had summarized them brilliantly, hitting and highlighting major take-home points for exams.

“People with _paranoid personality disorders_ are excessively distrustful and suspicious of other people, without any justification. They tend to not confide in others and expect other people to want to do them harm.”

His students quickly jotted down the notes, their eyes practically glued to the overhead and slides while their fingers glided along their keyboards like tiny bugs and butterflies flapping away.

“Those with _schizoid personality disorder_ show a detachment from social relationships and a very limited range of emotions in _interpersonal situations_. They seem aloof, cold, and indifferent to other people.”

The room suddenly was spinning, and it felt as though a mix between a hurricane and a quagmire was pulling him right down through to the center of the crazy mess. Nines felt weak for the first time, and physically drained. His hands darted out, and he swayed, trying to grab at anything and find purchase. Was there an earthquake?! What was happening?!

Glancing up, the lights burned and scorched right through his visual receptors, and he had to blink away. Everything was so bright…

“Professor Nines? Are you okay?”

He snapped up to attention, fighting to get a hold of himself.

All his students were whispering and pointing at him, murmuring under their breath while concern and fear flooded their eyes.

“Professor?”

Avoiding the lights, he moved about on the stage until he stood in the ‘darker’ portions. Clearing his throat, he switched onto the next slide. “I apologize…now, as I was saying…” His pupils turned back to their laptops, hurriedly trying to catch up.

“…People with _schizotypal personality disorder_ are typically _socially isolated_ and behave in ways that would seem unusual to most of us. Additionally, they tend to be suspicious and have odd beliefs about the function of the world.”

Once everyone was caught up, Nines hardly opened his mouth to begin his next sentence, when the room again felt as though it was spinning…only this time, at a much faster speed, and everything suddenly ached beyond comprehension.

Grunting, he moved back against the large desk in the corner, and he propped his weight against it. The desk legs scraped loudly against the stage floor, and his pupils started whispering in concern again.

Not needing and wanting their pity, he chopped out weakly, “Th-those wh-who are diagnosed with _antisocial p-personality disorder_ have a-a-a history of failing to comply w-with social n-n-norms.”

He started shaking, and he gathered his arms around himself, almost using them as a straitjacket of sorts to keep it together.

“Th-they perform actions m-most of us would find unacceptable, such as stealing f-from friends and f-family. Th-they also t-tend to be irresponsible, impulsive, a-and d-deceitful…” How he’d made it through that lecture was beyond himself, and Nines was considering the possibility that it could’ve been a damn miracle if he didn’t know any better.

The lights beaming from the screens of the laptops and phones of his students blared forth in the darkness the rest of the lecture room was encased in, and Nines was consistently able to catch the sounds of the soft susurrations from various students, each one slicing and cutting through him like a butcher’s cleaver dicing through tender meat.

The clock ticked loudly high above the projector on the wall, and it sounded like the beating of a drum a giant used. It sounded terrifying, and it only served to remind Nines that he was still eating up class time to do whatever it was he was currently doing.

He was wasting time…

Gritting his teeth tightly and firmly together, he powered on through his insignificant problems, vowing to return to this later and perhaps assess by first off starting from a self-diagnostic test…

Appropriate.

Craning his neck up, he supported the back of his body part by placing a hand there, and then slowly explained the upcoming midterm assignment, as majority of the other professors were doing already.

“I know it’s quite early in the term,” he began while still leaning on the desk, “but I think the earlier we begin, the better it’ll be for everyone, plus, it’ll help you determine whether you need to take certain measures into planning, and which method of research will work best for you.” His students grumbled lightly when he’d brought up the word ‘research’, but that was hardly surprising. Research was quite lengthy, tricky, time consuming, and draining at times. Nines had often been pulled into the work himself, trying to remain neutral at first, but then over the course of many months of research, he’d sadly fallen into the pit of taking a side. Remaining removed from the emotional aspects of research was quite a difficult feat at times, but he felt his students could handle it.

Switching to the slide discussing and outlining the assignment, he announced loudly and clearly, “This assignment will hopefully provide you with a way to delve deeper and deeper into the field of ‘abnormal psychology’, as well as various psychological disorders. From the list I have provided above, you are to select one topic, one disorder, if you will, and you are required to write a three-page report defending what form of therapy would work best in this case for the individual living with the disorder.”

Furiously making their notes, the students continued to moan and grumble moodily, but Nines pressed on, eager to wrap this up and answer questions he knew would fly out at him the second he breathed out the last word.

Already, he thought to the most frequently asked questions, wanting to save time and energy before he had to answer ten versions of the same bloody question.

Pressing a hand against his temple, he sighed, “Don’t go above three pages, else I won’t grade the work. This paper is mainly to see whether or not you have the ability to understand the main concepts of abnormal psychological disorders we went over in class, and I want you to all think outside the box like a therapist would when addressing such disorders for therapy.”

… _Just like I had when I worked as a psychiatrist…_

Shaking that off, he barked out strongly, “This assignment counts as twenty-five percent of your final grade, so be sure to take a good look at the rubric, which will also be found online under the course code.” The second he switched on to the slide containing the assignment rubric and instructions, the doors in the back swung open loudly.

Thinking that it’d been Gavin Reed strolling in once more, Nines hissed out without thinking, “If you’re here to cause more trouble, then I’ll personally see to it that you—”

Instead of Gavin Reed’s face, the person who’d appeared before him happened to be Jeffrey Fowler. His superior stood with his thick, bulky arms crossed over his broad chest, the sleeves of his blue dress shirt rolled up. There were bags under his eyes, his jaw was clenched tightly, the veins on his temples jutted out beneath his dark skin, and he seemed furious as ever.

His class quieted down substantially, and even Nines felt his words dying down in his throat at once.

Holding his head down submissively, he croaked out pathetically, “Dean Fowler, sir, I w-was just—”

Leaning into him, an air of viciousness swarmed Nines’ boss dramatically. A minacious gleam was in his eyes, and he spat coldly, “You’re going to finish your lecture right _now_ , and then you’re going to follow me straight to my office; I need to speak to you about something.”

Gaping and sputtering, Nines eventually found his voice again. “Sir? May I know what this is about?”

He wasn’t stupid. He knew something highly important had to have occurred for Dean Fowler to interrupt his class in such a manner. Even his students were aware of it, their hushed tones dying down as they tried listening in as best as they could.

Fingers wrapping around his shoulder in a vice-like grip, Fowler only growled, “You’ll find out soon enough, Professor, but for now, I suggest you listen and come with me.”

Having no other choice, Nines held up a hand, and he cried out, “C-class dismissed…everyone leave, now…”

One by one, his students packed their laptops into their bags and cases, zipped them up, and stacked their binders, notebooks, tablets, and phones in their hands. Hurriedly, they cast furtive glances down at each other, and at Fowler and Professor Nines. Their feet and shoes scraped along the cemented steps leading up and out of the large lecture hall, and once the last student swept out, Fowler began moving.

Pointing with his chin jutting forth, he ordered curtly, “Get moving.”

~--~^~--~^~--~

The door to Jeffrey Fowler’s office was already partially open, and when Nines pushed himself through first, he waited until his superior sat down before his desk first, and then gestured at the empty seats across from himself.

“Park it right there, Professor,” Fowler hissed icily, and Nines had to wonder what the purpose of such a rude tone in the first place was.

The office seemed even darker and more cloistered than Nines recalled when he’d had a brief interview with Jeffrey Fowler the day he’d accepted the job as Professor of Psychology for the undergraduate classes. Back then, the tone and atmosphere were colorful, cheerful, lively, and now, everything seemed dark, messy, claustrophobic, pained, torment-stricken, and confusing. A USA and Wayne State University flag sat wrapped in the left-hand corner behind the desk, while in the right-hand corner behind Dean Fowler happened to be plenty of boxes that weren’t opened. Numerous certificates, degrees, and awards hung from shining picture frames on the walls. The carpet smelled clean and freshly shampooed, and the windows and curtains were just as tidy and dust-free. However, none of that seemed to break away from the foreboding sense of doom lingering in the air.

A half-empty cup of coffee perched on the left corner of the desk, and a staple, a small laptop, a snow globe, a golden plaque bearing Dean Fowler’s name and title, a few cards, his phone, a hole puncher, as well as a few stamps lay about messily all across the surface of the desk. A few folders and envelopes could be found lying about as well, but Fowler pushed them to the side as he glared at Nines with malice and hatred.

Obediently, he sat down in the first chair, trying not to display how worried he was. He hadn’t done a single thing wrong, aside from booting Gavin Reed from his class. Thinking that had been the reason why he’d been called down, he began hurriedly, “Sir, if this is about me asking Gavin Reed to leave my class, I had a good enough reason to—”

“Stop right there, Nines,” Fowler snapped, immediately dropping the title of ‘Professor’ before it. Though his voice seemed friable, his scowls were constant and strong. “Do you why you’re here?”

Completely confused through and through, Nines rasped, “Sir! I don’t have the smallest of clues! I was just going through my day as usual, and that’s all!!”

“You mentioned Gavin Reed,” his boss spat with suspicion rising in his eyes, “what happened?”

Fumbling for words, Nines eventually pieced it all together in one go. “Dean Fowler, he was behaving erratically and aberrantly, and all I did was send him out of class because his actions were frankly quite disturbing, and he’d be taking away from other students’ learning opportunities!!” Pausing, he potently added, “I didn’t do anything wrong!!”

Shaking his head while a dry laugh escaped him, Fowler’s voice remained husky. His eyes grew slightly pink, and he sat back. His eyes were assessing Nines for a moment, and then he snapped, “You think I’m stupid, don’t you, Nines?”

“N-no, sir! I never said or believed that for a second!!”

What was this all about?! Had everyone else gone insane?!

Waving his hands about, Fowler roared, “Drop the innocent act already, Nines, and just admit to what you’ve done!!”

“I haven’t done anything!!”

Their eyes met in a deadly glaring contest of sorts, both men not blinking for a long minute that seemed to stretch on for days. Nines was certain he was going to implode due to the seriously insane amounts of tension rising above his head, and he didn’t know how much longer and how much more of this he could sustain. His system was going haywire as well, and a series of numbers, commands, thoughts, and possibilities for responses spun around before his eyes.

He couldn’t even think…

Emitting a pained sigh, Fowler leaned across his desk as much as the barrier would permit, and as he gazed deeper than ever into his employee’s eyes, his face changed. An almost ‘pleading’ look was instantly on his face, then, and he lowered his voice to that of a whisper.

“Nines, please, I urge you to just come right out with it and tell me the truth.”

Stunned, Nines sputtered out, “Sir, I’m t-telling you the truth right now! I haven’t done anything wrong, and I don’t know why you’re treating me l-like some common criminal!!”

Something dangerously violent snapped within Fowler right away. Upon hearing what Nines had stated, the older man leaned away, and he spat thickly, “It’s gonna be that way, huh?” Shrugging, he concluded, “So be it, Nines, but remember; you _were_ given a chance to defend yourself, here, and since you’re refusing to co-operate with me, then I’ve got no choice.”

Completely floored, Nines couldn’t help but bark out, “I’m tired of this game, Jeffrey! I’m seriously telling you that I’ve no god damn clue what’s going on, what’s happened, and why you’re treating me this way!!”

Curling a thick hand beneath his chin, Fowler’s eyes swept over Nines’ face before he drawled softly, “Tell me, Nines; how long has this been a habit for you?”

Rolling his eyes again at the riddles thrown his way, Nines hissed thinly, “How long has _what_ been a habit for me, sir?” As his attitude depicted how thoroughly fed-up and exhausted he was, Jeffrey Fowler snorted derisively at him for it anyway.

Chair creaking when he shifted his weight in it, he pressed out with his brows clenched tightly, “Abusing your students, Nines; I’m talking about your abuse of students.”

….

The office suddenly grew so quiet that the radiators and vents clicking and humming were louder than a herd of elephants stomping about. Everything in Nines’ skull seemed to slow down, yet speed up. Horns blared and honked from nowhere, red hues and black flashes spun around his eyes anytime he blinked, and he could almost see how his thirium pumped across his system if his eyelids remained shut for a second too long.

Completely taken aback, he felt as though someone had purposefully and forcefully wired his mouth and jaw shut. It took all the strength he had before he managed to cry out in a questioning manner, “A-abuse my…a-abuse a student?!”

Throwing back his head and laughing, he rang out in a shrill tone of voice, “Sir!! I’m not sure what the hell Gavin Reed complained about, but I swear to you that the boy’s deeply disturbed!! There’s no way I could and would ever—”

The interruption of a lifetime suddenly came unto him in the form of a shock akin to someone electrocuting him within an inch of his life, and then rearranging his entire program at once. Nothing could’ve prepared Nines for it, and nothing could take away from the jarring words that cut through his head, almost splitting it in two.

Fowler’s eyes were dark and sinister as his lips pulled back over his white and clean teeth. Those teeth seemed to gleam as brightly as the lights above in the ceiling, but Nines forced himself not to break eye contact. If he did so, then he was weaker than ever. He refused to be weak.

“Nines,” Fowler’s voice slammed and echoed into him, in spite of the office being quite small and cramped. “It wasn’t Gavin Reed who reported this case of abuse…”

Nines again felt everything churning and spinning. He knew that if he’d been a human being, he likely would’ve either bent over and profusely vomited, or he would’ve likely fainted.

This was too much to take.

Still, he wanted to hear Jeffrey Fowler out, and he was _going_ to.

“No, it wasn’t Gavin Reed…it was Morgan Howe you abused, wasn’t it, Nines?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit can see Carl and Nines becoming friends in a future DLC...all the other weirdness aside in this fic.


	4. Not Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😥

_Morgan Howe…Morgan Howe…Morgan Howe…Morgan Howe…_

No matter how many times the name cycled through his head, Nines still found it impossible to comprehend. He couldn’t believe it. Here sat his superior, Dean Jeffrey Fowler, a highly prominent and respectable man he not only admired, but thought of as a good friend, and this supposedly _good_ _friend_ had accused him of the unthinkable. The unimaginable…

How vile, how hideous, how disgusting!

He laughed, but it was more so because he simply couldn’t come to believe and understand how and why this was currently happening. Fowler didn’t appreciate his laughter, and he continued to scowl sternly at him while drumming his fingers along his desk.

“I wouldn’t be laughing if I were in your shoes, Nines; this is a _serious_ accusation.”

“I know _that_ ,” he began in his vitriolic reply, “I just…I c-can’t believe this, sir…” Eyes widened, and he gasped, “…Is th-this a joke?”

Even more offended, now, Fowler hissed between his teeth, “This _isn’t_ something people usually joke about, Nines.”

He knew _that_ , too, but something about all this was absolutely on the grand scale of ‘improbable’, ‘stupid’, and utterly ridiculous that to _not_ resort to laughter could be deemed insane by anyone else.

Clasping his hands together tightly in his lap, Nines drawled, “Are you even hearing yourself, Jeffrey?! Hmm? I _abused_ Morgan Howe?!” His voice broke a few times, but he didn’t care. Craning his neck up, he shrieked while his LED light remained red, “Do you even have a _single_ shred of evidence to back this up? Or are you pulling it right out of your ass?!”

Eyes narrowing in deadly slits at these words, Fowler growled warningly, “Watch it, Nines; I could sack you right now, but I’m givin’ you a damn chance, here!”

“You’re upset because of my use of some terse words?!” Another strained, dry laugh flew from his mouth. “Who the _hell wouldn’t_ be this angry and frustrated, Jeffrey?! You’re accusing me of the worst crime on earth, and yet you expect me to remain calm!!” Kicking at the desk, he screamed as he leapt up to his feet, “THIS IS BULLSHIT!”

Pointing back at the chair, Fowler snapped, “Sit down, Nines!!”

Did he have much of a choice??

Peering out the door quickly, to his sheer relief, Nines found that it was only open ajar, and the halls were purely empty. Classes were still on-going, of course, which meant that no one was going to be around for this…

Plopping himself down on the chair, a rueful look was upon his face from his loss of control and self-restraint. Perhaps Jeffrey was right; perhaps being calm for the time being until he’d heard the entire story was wiser than lashing out and being viewed as a criminal fighting to hide when he was guilty.

But he _wasn’t_ guilty…

Fowler remained adjusting his tie after moments of fidgeting with it and tugging it back and forth. The motions he caused resembled someone fixing a noose around their neck before they were marched off and hung from the gallows. However, Nines couldn’t help but feel that _he_ was the one about to be hanged; not anyone else.

Counting internally and silently to ‘three’, he ushered his words from his lips carefully. “If there even _is_ an argument and a case against me here, which I doubt there even could be, did Mr. Howe explain what kind of abuse this supposedly was?”

Fowler massaged his temples before popping open a bottle of Ibuprofen. Fetching a bottle of water hiding down by his feet beneath the desk, he brought it up to his mouth, tipped his head back, and in one go, he downed the pill and a large gulp of water. He appeared quite thirsty, however. The parched man drank as much of the water as he could, his Adam’s Apple bobbing up and down rapidly in motion and in time with the rhythm and pattern of his drinking. Finally, the mollitious man set his bottle down, crinkling the cheap plastic in between his strong fingers.

Nines surmised that Jeffrey would rather do the same…only around his neck…

Swallowing thickly, Fowler ground out under his breath, “Yeah, of course he mentioned a type of abuse, Nines, the hell did you think I’d be doing here otherwise?” Neck bulging, he snapped, “Did you think I’d just call you into my office like this without a cause so I could see your petrified face like this?!”

Nines was already beginning to abjure such odd notions. “Just tell me without the bullshit, Fowler,” he resorted to using the man’s surname, “I want to know what’s been said about me!”

Nodding, Fowler finally cut in with, “Morgan said you sexually violated him, Nines.”

…..

Yes, the world had to have ceased spinning, and the galaxies and cosmic universes that existed were completely blown away to smithereens. Everything felt sucked away through a tight, powerful vacuum, the portal itself leading to a massive black hole in the middle of nowhere…except for perhaps chaos. Nothing sensible came from this world, and it needed to crash, burn, and be totally annihilated. Perhaps then it would make a lick of sense…maybe. Only then could it potentially be reborn, recreated, and then exploded once again as the tiny bits of the cataclysmic doom were chased away by the wind.

That wouldn’t suffice…nothing could end the deadly cycle of the persistent, incessant thrumming that he recognized as his thirium pump echoing back his greatest worries and fears. They’d all come to life right before his very eyes; his integrity, his name, his reputation, it’d all been slaughtered and tarnished. His life’s work was in jeopardy, and any semblance of personal control he’d once so dearly held in his life was being challenged. Nines was left feeling hollow, and his state of sheer puzzlement continued to parade around his head. Nothing could assuage this nagging torment, and the android professor was beyond astonied.

What was to become of him?! How could this have happened?! It truly was a case of his worst nightmare coming to life, and he wasn’t even dreaming!!

Fowler muttered, “Yeah, I had the same look in my eyes when I heard about it. I think the shit dried right up my ass, quite frankly.”

Completely stunned-though not by his superior’s harsh choice of derogatory language, Nines weakly began, “He…he’s…he’s lying!” Something was truly amiss, and the nature of all things had gone awry. Why would Morgan Howe claim such a bizarre, impossible thing?!

The aghast android gaped about the office, as if waiting for one of the filing cabinets or other bits of furniture to provide comfort for him, support, or for them to spring to life and defend him. But he was truly alone in this, and that terrified him right to his very core.

“Jeffrey, this is absolutely insane!! You can’t possibly believe him!!”

Surely his boss wasn’t as guileless as this!!!

Appearing rather blasé, Fowler sighed, “I’m afraid I have to take it seriously, Nines, and that wouldn’t normally go in cases where a student discloses such a sensitive, forbidden issue, but Morgan has specifics, and he’s given me the details, facts, and a timeline.”

Audio receptors melting and then lighting on fire as intensely as the one burning within his chest, Nines hissed poisonously, “What _facts_?! Jeffrey!” He resisted the urge to pound away on the desk as he growled deeply, “I didn’t do anything to Morgan!!”

“He says you seduced and then raped him, Nines!” came the roar befitting a lion than his boss, “do you even understand what could happen here?!”

“I never did such a thing!” Nines shrieked, LED light blinking on and off consistently as his nerves were set aflame. “I am a _Professor_!! I help, coach, guide, instruct, and examine students!!”

An execrable snarl was emitted from Fowler’s lips. “Are you saying that _no_ professor in the history of the world has _ever_ violated their students, Nines?” Shaking his head, he added, “Pitiful.”

“I never said that!” Nines barked back vehemently. “I’m telling you plainly here that I’m not like that!! I’ve never even _entertained_ ideas like that about _anyone_ , especially sexually!!” He knew he was revealing far too much information about his private life and affairs than necessary, but if it hammered the point home, Nines was more than happy with suffering through it all.

Dark brown eyebrows furrowed, Fowler huffed, “Well, Nines, you may argue it that way as much as you want, but the statements that came from Morgan were that for weeks, you were ‘grooming’ him and talking him up before you committed this crime!”

Jaw nearly hitting his knees, Nines squawked, “ _Weeks_?! What the fuck?!” Usually, he never cursed, but he could no longer hold back anymore. Who would remain calm in the middle of such an outlandish, ridiculous commotion?

Ignoring the terse words, Fowler continued. “Yes, Morgan stated that you approached him through your Psych class app, and for almost four days a week, you chatted with him for nearly an hour per session!”

Shaking his head wildly, Nines cried, “Sir! That’s absolutely untrue! Yes, I spoke to Morgan a few nights ago, but not about—”

Eyes squinting in an accusatory manner at him immediately, Fowler bit out, “The hell were you doin’ talkin’ to your student at _night_ for, Nines?!”

“You’re jumping to conclusions!!” Nines bellowed out, “I used that app for the purposes of facilitating my classes, being as available to my students as I could be, encouraging peer discussion, and to answer questions students have! There was _nothing_ else going on, sir!!”

Fowler blinked once, and then hissed, “It sounds to me like you’re hiding something, Nines, and there’s no need to do this.”

Challenging that when he was more than completely certain and confident in the conversations he’d had with not only Morgan Howe, but with _all_ his pupils, Nines affirmed, “Day, night, afternoon; what difference does it make in terms of the time I spoke with Morgan, sir?” Tapping his index finger into the desk as though it were a needle burying itself into the wood, he elucidated clearly, “I didn’t say anything to Morgan Howe that would be deemed as inappropriate, and I’m getting weary of you constantly putting me on the spot, grilling me, and vilifying me without any _real proof_.” Finishing this with a curt, firm nod, he sat back and only resumed glaring at his boss.

Fowler stared down into his lap, and as if speaking to it, he muttered, “Nines, I wish I could trust your words, here, but I’ve already seen the chat logs.”

Nines spat, “Good, then you will see clearly that I’m not hiding a damn thing.”

“But you’re lying, Nines,” Fowler accused, “the things you said to that boy were…” Shivering, a disgruntled, sullen look befell him. “How could you, Nines? How could you do this?!”

“I. Didn’t. Do. Anything.” Nines repeated strongly for what felt like the thousandth time already. His thirium felt like it was bubbling magma he could hardly contain before his volcanic rage exploded all over. He absolutely despised unfounded assertions and such wild accusations, and this was treading high above the realms of sheer insanity.

Fowler’s eyes closed, and his veins again throbbed and seemed prominent as they jutted out beneath his skin. It appeared that he too was on the verge of explosion.

“Nines,” came his rattle of a broken beginning, “how could you prey upon someone who has ADHD? What’s wrong with you?”

Pointing at himself, Nines rasped weakly, “What’s wrong with _me_?? Are you kidding?!”

“Nines, you—”

“I’m _not_ a damn predator, Jeffrey! Why can’t you listen and get that?!”

Rolling his chair back, Fowler snorted, “You know what? Fine.” Moving himself towards the laptop, he turned it on as fast as he could, all the while murmuring under his heated breath. “You want proof? Fine. Fuck it. You can read this shit just as I did for hours on end, suffer through it, and then _maybe_ there’ll be some sense knocked into your damn head for once!!”

With Nines observing him silently as best as he could without resorting to slinging harsh words and insults about, Fowler hurriedly printed something off from his laptop. The printer whirred and came to life as it printed off the pages, and Nines tilted his head towards the machine.

“Why do you need it in paper format? You could just show me through—”

Interrupting rudely, Fowler snapped, “I’m keeping a damn paper trail, Nines, and so help me, this is seriously disgusting shit I’m about to show you.”

Still under the impression that this was all a big mistake, and that Fowler was badly misinformed, Nines sat back. “Very well,” he all but growled, “but you owe me a _big_ apology when this is all clear, Jeffrey.”

“Hmm, we’ll see about that, Nines…”

The machine kept working, purring as it shot out page after page. Fowler collected them as they flew forth, and finally, when the sixth page had been added to the bunch, he wheeled himself over before Nines. Arms extending as he presented the pages, he spat coldly, “ _Here_. Take a look for yourself, and then we’ll _really_ see who’s full of shit, and who owes who an apology.”

Though he wondered how there could’ve been six pages in total, Nines collected them all when they were offered to him, and he started from page one.

“Don’t read out loud, please,” Fowler advised, “I seriously can’t stomach that shit a second time.”

The pages had been numbered and organized directly from the app, and they were timestamped and dated. Page one began from the hour of half past seven in the evening, and the first chat log had come in from Morgan. Things seemed innocent, at first. Nines recalled this particular conversation immediately, but he still went over it carefully, just in case something was amiss.

Checking for the course code, Morgan’s student I.D., as well as the time stamp, Nines slowly confirmed that it was all correct. This had been the first time he’d spoken to Morgan Howe when he’d been most recently admitted into the psychology program.

**_April 6 th, 2039_ **

_Course Code: PSYCH151_ _, Introduction to Psychology and Research Methods_

** Howe, M. 7:30 p.m. **

_Professor, Im dont get the f1st assignment…_

** Instructor, 7:30 p.m.  **

_There are 2 parts to the assignment, Mr. Howe. Which part is confusing?_

** Howe, M. 7:31 p.m. **

_both!_

At this point, Nines glared up at Fowler. “Sir, I’ve already seen these before, as I wrote them; there’s nothing inappropriate here!!”

“Shut up and keep reading!” Fowler rudely snapped pointing down at the page seriously.

Muttering under his breath, Nines’ eyes scanned down the rest of the first page, and he saw nothing that stood out to himself. However, when he moved to the second page, about midway through, the discussions…took an abrupt change in tone. Instead of Morgan being the one who initiated all the conversations, it was Nines himself…

His eyes widened as he sat in the chair right in front of his employer while reading on messages he knew he hadn’t sent out to Morgan. It was as though none of this was real. It couldn’t have been…someone had to have either stolen his identity to compose half the things he’d written, or this had to have been a case where he’d somehow stumbled into an odd parallel universe where he wasn’t in control of the narrative and version of the events…someone had it all backwards. Things were horribly twisted, and it was worse than watching himself through the other side of the looking glass.

Perhaps an evil twin? A doppelgänger? Nothing logical could explain things, but Nines forced himself to read on regardless. It was better to know what he was up against rather than to fumble around in the dark so blindly.

**_April 19 th, 2039_ **

_Course Code: PSYCH110, Cognitive Psychology_

** Instructor, 11:22 p.m.  **

_You awake?_

** Howe, M, 11:26 p.m.  **

_Professor?_

** Instructor, 11:28 p.m. **

_I wanted you to know that I thought the green blazer you wore today was really appealing. It fit you nicely. You looked pretty good in it._

At once, Nines choked on his words. It took him nearly three reads before coughed brokenly, “I d-didn’t send this to him, Jeffrey…I swear to you, I didn’t send—”

“Nines, I believe I told you to keep reading,” Fowler warned, crossing his large arms over his chest as he appeared for more menacing than ever. “By God, you _will_ read it all, or so help me, I’ll—”

Eyes falling down to the rest of the conversation, Nines discovered that it only got worse.

** Instructor, 11:30 p.m. **

_You know, you can come talk to me about anything, Morgan…I’m always willing to be there for you and listen..._

** Howe, M, 11:33 p.m. **

_thnx but im ok_

** Instructor, 11:33 p.m. **

_How about tea or lunch in my office after hours? It gets quiet after 2 p.m., and we can chat without any interruptions._

Morgan had apparently resisted such offers, but as Nines moved to the next page, he found a version of himself talking to Morgan in a more obsessive, creepy, stalker-like manner who refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.

**_April 21 st, 2039_ **

_Course Code: PSYCH151, Introduction to Psychology and Research Methods_

** Instructor, 12:01 a.m.  **

_We should start talking on the phone. That way, no one can get suspicious if you’re using the app all the time…I also would love to hear your voice. It’s so lovely; you shouldn’t be fearful to speak out more often._

** Howe, M, 12:04 a.m. **

_plz stop_

** Instructor, 12:06 a.m. **

_You’re too cute, I can’t help myself._

** Howe, M, 12:09 a.m.  **

_Professor, im nt gay!_

Gesturing at the page, Nines roared, “And neither am I!!”

Fowler snorted, “You’re not done yet, Nines. I want you to see what kind of madness this is!!”

Hands shaking, Nines’ jarring motions and vibrations made the papers flutter, and he screeched strongly, “It’s madness because I didn’t send these!!”

“Oh bullshit, Nines!” Fowler extended a hand to the sheets, “You even remembered what the fuck Morgan was wearing in your classes!! That’s a level of attention to detail as intense and intimate as me noticin’ the kind of perfume my wife puts on before she leaves for work every morning!”

Fuming, Nines allowed his eyes to survey over the third and fourth pages, holding them up together simultaneously next to each other. As the month of April approached the end of the third week, again, time after time, it was Nines who’d initiated a lot of the chat…and the chats were absolutely sexual. Filthy of the highest order, they were embarrassing, horrifying, and perversion at its quintessential best example laid bare.

And Nines couldn’t believe it.

**_April 28 th, 2039_ **

_Course Code: PSYCH207, Statistics in Psychology_

** Instructor, 11:47 p.m. **

_I miss everything that there is to miss about you. God, I can’t stop thinking about you, Morgan. Everything is perfect about you, did you know that? You make me want to do a lot of unspeakable things to you…is it bad for me to admit that I masturbate every night to thoughts of you?_

** Howe, M, 11:56 p.m. **

_wat…wat r u talking abut >?_

As Nines’ bio-components and bio-sensors churned and almost felt as though they were melting right out of his body through his skin, he forced himself to finish it.

** Instructor, 12:09 p.m. **

_You should believe me; I’d never lie to you, Morgan. You’re absolutely handsome, and I bet you have plenty of females after you competing for your attention. I must admit; I’m envious. Quite envious._

** Howe, M, 12:14 p.m. **

_I dont know…_

** Instructor, 12:16 p.m.  **

_Are you a virgin?_

“NO!” Nines abruptly and bombastically screamed out, “I refuse to read anymore!!”

Leaning forth like a hawk, Fowler snatched the pages out of his hands. Holding them high in the air, he snarled cruelly, “Fine!! I’ll continue reading them, since you’re so faint of heart!!” Slamming the sheets down flatly onto his desk face-up, his eyes ran over the contents, and then a moue of disgust came over him.

After he’d braced himself, he exclaimed, “Twelve-twenty-two p.m.! You said to him: ‘Oh Morgan, if only you knew how I see you daily. Would you like to take a trip around the world through my eyes, sharing my visions?’”

Jaw falling open involuntarily, Nines squawked, “But—”

A hand shot up through the air, and Fowler roared, “April thirtieth, nine-forty-five at night you said to him: ‘Morgan, your lips, your soft skin, your eyes, your beating heart, when will the day arrive where all of that-all of you-can belong to me?’”

_No…no…this isn’t true…this isn’t happening in my reality!_

“May the second! Nine-fifty-seven in the night! You said: ‘I want your first time to be with me’!”

Slamming his hands down on the desk, Nines screeched brokenly, “ENOUGH!!! STOP!! PLEASE!!”

The sheets fluttered back down to Fowler’s desk, almost flapping about like the wings of a large moth. The air in the office had taken quite a sinister, ominous turn, and it made Nines feel even worse. Though he still knew he hadn’t done or said any of these things, something about the way Jeffrey Fowler had been speaking to him seemed to suggest that this was far from over, and that nothing Nines could say or do would grant him forgiveness.

This was a done deal the moment he’d walked into Fowler’s office, and there was nothing he could do to save face. His fate had been written, and quite unfairly so. 

Gathering the loose sheets into his hands, Fowler stacked them, and when Nines reached for them, he drew his hand back and shielded the pages protectively. “Ah, ah, ah, no you don’t, Nines!!” He shooed the android’s arms away from the papers as though Nines wanted to steal them away from him.

Glaring resolutely, he added, “These are going to stay with me, and I didn’t even get to the other half of the shit you said to this poor kid!”

“You can keep them,” a defeated Nines whispered weakly, “I know I never sent those to him, and I can provide my own evidence!”

Fowler snorted, “Oh, and what evidence is that?”

As he tucked the pages away into his filing cabinet and locked the top drawer, Nines spat at his boss, “I too have those conversations on the same app! I can connect to it right now and show you!”

“You could’ve easily deleted your side, Nines,” Fowler snapped viciously, “and I wouldn’t put it past you at all, frankly.” Making sure his drawers were locked perfectly, he placed the keys in his back pocket before pacing back toward Nines.

Eyeing the pathetic look in his employee’s eyes, he finally huffed, “Nines, I’m afraid I have to consider this all very seriously, and you can provide me with any evidence you have, but the chats paired with what happened in your office…” Wincing, he concluded, “…This is a solid case no matter what you do, friend.”

Nines’ face scrunched up into one of sheer pain as he cried out, “Solid?! _Solid_?! That’s ridiculous!!” LED light yellow, he roared, “I’m printing them right this instant from your printer, and you can see that I never wrote these!”

A second later, the printer came to life again, and the exact same number of pages flew out of the machine. Nines didn’t even allow Fowler to nab the pages first; he leapt for them, and he gathered them in his long arms. Waving them about, he pointed to the last page, eyes scanning the contents as he broke out, “See! I told you, it—”

His voice had once again been taken away, and yet again, his confidence had been stolen from him. As his eyes searched the page, the smile of hope he’d once had planted on his face slowly died away. Like leaves scattering and blowing about in the wind, his smile crumpled, dried away, and broke apart.

There was nothing to smile about anymore; not when he’d read the contents of the sixth page.

Knowing what he was reading, Fowler sighed wearily, “That’s my point, Nines; you sent these, and it’s wiser not to deny it, son. You look insane, otherwise.”

Flipping the page to the back, Nines choked weakly, “Th-this…this layout is th-the same as on my personal laptop, a-and in my o-office, and in my mind…” His eyes took in the sight of Fowler when he glanced up, and he gasped, “I didn’t—”

“Then who did, Nines?!” Fowler threw his hands up in the air like a man who’d truly given up on life. Staring upward, he bellowed with an air of desperation, “Who else except for you would be able to even touch that app?!”

Thinking about it for a moment, the answer suddenly slammed into Nines. He gushed out, “Gavin Reed, sir!!”

Fowler cocked an eyebrow, “Gavin Reed?”

“Yes!” Nines nodded strongly as he continued, courage bolstering as it was backed up by raw aggression and anger, “He’s done it before!”

Fowler truly appeared to be considering this. His dark eyes narrowed, and even though it seemed he hadn’t accrued enough sleep lately, he still remained alert and vigilant. Assessing Nines quietly, he took more than an odd minute or two before he asked, “What do you mean, Nines?”

Not faltering despite the clamant of questions boiling in his own frustrated state, Nines explained, “A few weeks ago, Gavin hacked the psych app, and he changed his student screen name into something quite perverse.”

Fowler’s eyes squinted into tiny dots as he inquired, “Perverse like what, Nines?”

Though he wasn’t in any mood to really dive into it, Nines sighed as he declaimed, “He changed it to something sexual, and it was: ‘Ib6ub9’.” As he stood back and waited for Fowler to add to the conversation upon hearing this, the didactic android was shocked to discover that Fowler’s head was tilted at him in quite the curious and confused manner.

Eyes lost, he wheezed, “What the hell’s that shit mean, Nines??”

Wanting to bash his skull into a wall, it was Nines’ doughty spirit that kept him going. With a small sigh, he commented, “It’s a clear and _obvious_ reference to a sex position, sir.”

Catching up on the daunting tone and emphasis of the word ‘obvious’, Fowler jabbed a finger at Nines as he spat coldly, “Don’t get smart with me, Nines!! I’m not into whatever the hell it is that kid’s today are into!”

“The point is,” Nines’ voice rose above his superior’s, “he’s done it once before, and he did it again a few days ago!!”

Stroking his chin as his belly protruded out slightly, Fowler surmised, “He did it again to be sexual?”

Nines nodded quickly. “Yes, he changed his screen name to ‘Sexkitteh69’.”

“That ‘69’ thing is starting to get on my nerves…”

Skirting past the insignificance of that statement, Nines expounded seriously, “Given all that, sir, I strongly believe that it was Gavin Reed who hacked the app again to toy with me! He’s done it before; he could do it again anytime he wanted.”

Rubbing his smooth scalp with a hand, Fowler looked down at their feet before closing his eyes and sighing. He looked and sounded exhausted and quite defeated. “That _would_ be a good theory and make sense, but only if there was a reason for Gavin to do that, Nines…”

“I kicked him out of class a few times,” Nines offered, “I believe that would suffice and torment his large ego plenty.”

Apparently, Fowler vehemently disagreed. Shaking his head, he sighed, “Nines, a lot of these chats happened a month ago, for one…if Gavin wanted to take ‘revenge’, wouldn’t he have done so earlier?”

Remaining utterly silent, Nines felt his mind scrambling. Perhaps Fowler had a point, but he didn’t want to admit to that line of reasoning, yet.

Continuing on, Fowler paced back and forth as he grunted out, “And why would he pick Morgan Howe? Hmm? I mean…” Shrugging, he extended his hands out before himself while pacing around the desk, “…I think it would make _more_ sense if these chats and instances had been coming directly from Gavin; _then_ I could see a need for personal revenge.”

Irate, Nines snapped ferociously, “I still believe this theory, sir, and I’m going to have a chat with Morgan so I can try and understand this whole thing to—”

“Oh no you don’t, Nines,” Fowler roared as he ambled towards him once he’d effectively snapped himself out of the odd pattern of walking around his desk in circles. Standing equally before the android, he did well to stare him down, even though Nines was taller in stature and broad in a stronger way.

Not even flinching, Fowler stood majestically, almost like a mountain. “You _won’t_ even go within an inch of that young man. Have I made myself clear, Nines?” He fanned himself out, broadening his chest and shoulders. From afar, it appeared more so that Jeffrey Fowler was seriously considering to engage in a battle with Nines, with every intention of ending his life weighing down on his shoulders and conscience.

It was quite a dominant, fearless look that wasn’t meant to be challenged or trifled with. Nines wasn’t going to be the fool to even test that and try it. Already, he was fearful of his reputation being defiled under such allegations, and he knew for a fact that Jeffrey Fowler-as the Dean of the University-had to report it and take it up with law enforcement very soon. It wasn’t a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’.

Turning his nose up in the air, Nines hissed, “You also stated that I violated Morgan in my office. Do you _seriously_ believe that, Jeffrey?”

Clasping his hands together, Fowler then bowed his head down into them, as though offering up prayer to some unknown entity in the room. Emitting a tiny sigh, he bemoaned, “Nines, please, we _both_ know what you did to Morgan in your office, and from now on, I’m afraid that the Detroit Police Department will be handling this case.”

Nines already figured that. Turning away slightly, he breathed emotionlessly, “I’m being looked into no matter what I say and do…I’m going to have to defray for something I didn’t even do…”

“An officer will determine that, Nines,” Fowler interrupted, raising his head and lowering his hands. Tucking them into his pockets, he stood tall again, and jutted out his chin. Nodding towards the door, he ordered, “Get out of my office, Nines.”

Understanding that would be required of him sooner or later anyway, the tall android backed away as he inquired softly, “What do I do, now?”

Fowler huffed, “For now, Morgan’s been removed from all your classes, you may or may not have noticed. You are to resume those classes, but a security guard will be present at _all_ times for the duration of them.”

Emotions spiraling out of control, Nines garbled out before he knew it at the very height of his anger and torment. “So I’m already being regarded and treated as a common criminal?”

“Nines—”

“Guilty until proven innocent, is that it? Hmm??”

“Nines,” Fowler tried getting through to him, “this is a safety measure; we’d have to do it anyway, even if someone else here had been accused of the same crime.”

Bashing his body against the door, Nines fumbled for the handle, and he worked it to open the door. It swung about into the hall, and as fresh air poured forth into the office, the android glared viciously at his superior. “I know I didn’t do this, sir,” he argued strongly, “and whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you.”

Stepping into the hall, he was again grateful that not a single soul lingered in sight. The entire hallway was barren and deserted, and Nines preferred it that way. He only hoped it would remain as such until he returned to his office so he could pack his belongings. When he spun about and faced the professionally decorated and designed windows with patterns and markings that resembled those found in a church or cathedral, he heard Fowler’s heavy footsteps echoing behind himself.

“Nines?” he began in a timorous voice, “where are you going?”

Not even bothering to whirl around and even so much as look at his boss to address him, Nines gazed out the windows. Though his vision was slightly foggy and clouded by emotions and betrayal, he saw the sun peeking out at him from the tops of trees, leaves, clouds, and flocks of birds.

Such a lovely day…and everything had been completely ruined and taken away from him.

Regretfully, Nines stated in sorrow, “I’m leaving for good, Jeffrey.”

As he walked on, Fowler jogged up behind him, screaming out, “What do you mean ‘leaving’?!”

Nines then said the two words he thought he’d never have to end up saying since he took up his position at the University. This job had been his life, his purpose, his goals, his very breath and joy. Now, it was gone, and he was going to have to live with this ultimate choice.

Not even a smile grazed over his face, though his tone remained warm and sincere.

“I quit.”

~--~^~--~^~--~

“Let me try and understand here, Nines,” Carl Manfred began in a relatively calm and collected tone while he balanced a paintbrush in his right hand, and a glass of wine in the left. “Today, you were not only accused of one of the worst things an individual could be accused of doing, but you also quit your one-and-only-job you love and worked so hard for?” Frowning when he was through with his overall ‘summary’ of events, the artist turned back and studied Nines with seriousness and confusion sweeping into his eyes.

“Nines,” he coughed out as he set his dirty paintbrush down on the easel, “forgive me for saying this, my friend, but that’s just—”

Holding up his cigarette, Nines handed the object over to Carl as he barked out in a clipped tone, “It was the right thing to do at the time.”

The smoke billowed and wafted about in the air, clouding over Carl’s features as he stood before Nines. It was almost midnight, and Nines had been with Carl since the moment he arrived back to his apartment. After delivering one sound knock upon the painter’s door, Nines was invited in, and though Carl had tried supporting his friend and understanding what had happened, the older man still presented moments of sheer hopelessness, confusion, astonishment, and bewilderment at Nines’ plight. He remained stymied even after he’d both prepared and devoured his supper, all while Nines sat in his kitchen fuming over his circumstances.

Scratching the back of his head with a freckled, tattooed hand, Carl rasped brokenly, “Nines, I don’t understand…”

Rolling his eyes, the RK900 shortly barked out, “I’m not in the mood to go over it again, Carl, if it’s okay with you.” How many more times was he required to suffer through such embarrassing memories?! He’d expect this from Jeffrey Fowler, perhaps, but not Carl Manfred!!

Finally taking his burning cigarette in his right hand, Carl inhaled deeply. As he did, his brows furrowed for a moment, and then his eyes grew darker. At the very last minute, however, a peculiar shine began in them, starting from the center, and then spread out like wildfire. Snapping his fingers as he lowered his cigarette, he cried out, “Ahh! I think I know what your little problem might be, Nines!!”

Sitting up behind him on the loveseat, the android said, “Okay, I’d love to hear your theories, Carl.” Perhaps the older man could’ve noticed something as they’d been talking over the course of two hours, or maybe he hadn’t. Nines was well aware that Carl was trying to remain optimistic, and since he was applying a lot of open-ended thinking along with donning those hidden ‘rose tinted lenses’, he more than likely wouldn’t be able to draw realistic conclusions. Simply put, since they were close friends, Nines felt that Carl-as supportive and biased as he was-wouldn’t dare say anything negative about him. For some reason, this bothered the stoic android.

Was Carl only loyal to him because they were mutually gaining something from this friendship? Or did he really believe and support Nines because he trusted his character and personality?

The philosophical question remained in the back of the android’s head while he waited for Carl to propose his theory. As Carl moved away from the painting he’d been currently working on after finishing his drink, he paced before Nines back and forth in small lines while he voiced his musings and theory.

“I’m starting to think that this could just be a case of a student who’s got a serious crush on you, Nines!”

The stunned android could only throw his head back and emit a tiny laugh even though he wasn’t amused in the slightest. Thankfully, his actions hadn’t offended or made Carl upset. The older man resumed pacing, though slower.

Gruffly, he grunted, “It could be possible, Nines! You never know!”

Sighing in defeat, Nines coughed, “Most of my students loathe me, Carl. Believe me, the _last_ thing on their minds is to cuddle up with me or send me romantic flowers and cards.” Sadly, that was true. As much as his students seemed to enjoy his courses, they didn’t really approach him outside of classes or try to relate to him in any other way. And if he ever handed out grades lower than the ones they felt they deserved…

Well. World War three would be more merciful…

The ex-instructor felt so craven when he thought about it, but a lot of his students often whispered about him in poor lighting when they assumed he wasn’t listening or paying attention. He wasn’t well-liked or popular, and there was no way anyone in his class saw him as anything other than a crabby android professor. To entertain anything more was ridiculous as it sounded in his head.

While he held back on his negative comments so as to not hurt Carl’s feelings, the older man held up a hand as he cut in with, “Nooooo, hear me out, Nines!!” When he knew Nines was listening closely, he stated, “Why else would they make some sexual thing against you, here?! The best way I can see it here is that this is all the work of a student holding onto a _serious_ obsession with you, and since they know they can’t and won’t ever have you, they’re expressing their rage and fury!”

Frowning, Nines inquired, “So they’re tarnishing my reputation and slandering me in the name of… _love_? _Lust_?”

Wagging a finger at him while pacing, Carl hummed, “Love is a dangerous thing if it’s not returned, Nines…back when I was decades younger, I had quite the female-fan-club-following, and trust me, they would do _anything_ to try and impress me…”

“I have no doubt about that,” the RK900 responded gently, “it gets that way in the world of academia, but I promise you, Carl, _nothing_ like that has ever happened for me.”

Shrugging, Carl scratched his head as he sighed, “The world’s an odd place, Nines. I’m learning that a lot, myself. You can’t expect simplicity from people anymore; everyone’s got an ulterior motive or some deep dark agenda.”

Gazing somewhere to the left, Nines drawled softly, “I…I didn’t ever believe in such pessimistic notions and views before, Carl, but I’m starting to—”

Suddenly, Carl’s phone buzzing and vibrating loudly on a table in the living room snapped both men out of their conversation. The soft jazz music Carl had been playing in the background while they engaged in their chat was abruptly turned down. Moving to grab his phone off the seat, Carl stared down at the screen and frowned in utter confusion.

Following his confusion, Nines hissed, “Do you recognize the number?”

Carl slowly shook his head. “No…I don’t.”

Though he didn’t want to tread into areas that weren’t any of his concern, a most worried Nines tried, “Do you think it’s Leo?”

At the sound of the young man’s name, the phone buzzed again, seemingly louder and more violently, this time. Practically taking on its own personified essence, it shook in the center of Carl’s hand, and the painter held it tightly close to his chest.

As he worried his lower lip between his teeth, Nines rose to his feet and approached. Carefully, he exhaled, “Carl, is it Leo?”

Holding the phone up to his face, Carl rasped, “I…uh…” Shaking himself out of his stupor, he growled as he swiped to answer the call.

Lunging at him, Nines hissed, “No! Don’t do it, Carl!!”

_Don’t give him the attention he craves!!!_

Avoiding him, Carl moved quickly to the other side of the living room. He spoke in a hushed tone as he held his head down, as though that would help in terms of Nines not being able to hear the conversation.

“Hello?” he barked gruffly, “Leo?”

….

There was dead silence persisting in the room, and Nines mentally prayed over and over: _Don’t let it be Leo, don’t let it be Leo…_

“Hello?!” Carl cried at the phone once more, and then a loud, audible ‘beep!’ echoed on the other end of the line.

Lowering the phone from his ear, Carl stared at the device, and then coughed, “They hung up on me…” Turning to face Nines, he chuckled, “Hung up!!”

Both men let out loud sighs of relief, and then once they realized they’d done so in unison, they paused, stared at each other, and burst out into laughter. Nines had no idea why, but it felt so natural to do this. He lost himself to his rounds of boisterous laughing, and it all grew louder and louder by the minute. He would’ve hooted even louder, but Carl remembered what time it was, and he hushed his guest gently.

Draping an arm about his shoulders, Carl pocketed his phone with his free hand as he exhaled almost peacefully, “The things that happen in life, huh, Nines?”

“You could say that again,” the android pressed out, knowing that it was already way past midnight, and Carl was exhausted. The man didn’t even need to be scanned, but after Nines had quickly done so, he noticed how tired and physically drained the senior artist was. His body heat was raging and soaring as he tried staying warm during the cool night. His heart was beating at almost seventy-two beats per minute, and he was fighting back the urge to yawn many, many times. It was only due to his kindness as both a friend and a good host that he hadn’t buckled down and done so, Nines supposed.

As they breezed by Carl’s dark kitchen, the appliances buzzed, hummed and whirred. The grandfather clock in the corner ticked loudly, and the rest of the wondrous antiques and artifacts Carl kept sat about in the dark, almost as if asleep themselves while the secrets of the night blanketed them. Outside, the sky was equally as dark, only a few stars shining about. Even the sounds of the quotidian traffic life had died down for the moment.

Fingers curling around Nines’ shoulder, Carl spoke softly before him, “So, old friend, you didn’t tell me if this was all worth quitting your job for…”

Though equally as drained as Carl, Nines didn’t take offense to his question. Carl hadn’t meant to be insulting at all, and Nines never regarded it that way. Though a bit peeved, Nines still had to count his blessings as far as having close friends was concerned.

Facing the front door, Nines unlocked it for himself, but he made no move to open it, yet. Addressing Carl fully, he answered, “I refuse to work in a place that has already decided I’m some common criminal, and has labeled me as such without even a fair trial or chance. That’s debasing, and I’m not going to put up with that abuse; especially not after slaving way for them for almost five years.”

Delivering a solid ‘thump’ in the way of petting him on the back, Carl approved. “That’s the Nines I know and respect.” Bowing his head, he inquired softly, “Do you think now you may get around to becoming a psychiatrist again?”

“I’ve never given it thought,” Nines admitted, but then a tiny grin formed on his face. “Perhaps I should, though.”

Carl winked playfully. “Might be the right time, Nines.”

The android unlocked Carl’s front door, and as both men stood out into the hall beneath a large skylight above their heads, Carl tilted his head back and gazed out through the glass that seemed so high beyond him. Pausing after having some minor difficulty, Carl turned to squint outside at the sky, and after a moment, he bemoaned, “I can’t see anythin’ these days!!” Turning to Nines, then, he asked, “Are the stars shining brightly, old friend?”

Looking up quickly, Nines confirmed, “They are, Carl, they are.”

The older man wrapped him in a loose hug as he whispered, “Take care, and good night, Nines. I’m sure you’ll know what to do in the morning, and don’t doubt for even a second that I have your back.”

Knowing at least one other person believed him, Nines turned down the hall and made his way back to his apartment. He worried about how he was going to approach his colleagues-especially North-about this, but he knew that empty worrying wasn’t productive, and it wasn’t going to do him any good. The most important thing he could do now was go home, take a look at the class app, and his entire laptop. Perhaps there would be a clue or two hidden about there.

However, as Nines made the journey straight to his door, he felt that something was off. Sensing somehow that he wasn’t entirely alone, Nines quickly unlocked his door and bustled inside. Unfortunately, returning to a dark apartment didn’t exactly set the tone and mood for anything pleasant in the way of relaxation, nor did the fact that Nines _still_ felt something troubling lingering about…if he had to attribute a label to it, the closest thing he could arrive to in terms of describing this was akin to feeling as though he was being watched…

Someone was watching him.

Convinced of this, Nines searched his apartment first by scanning it thoroughly. He didn’t have a need for a security system, much, but when he’d scanned every nook and cranny and had found nothing, he truly considered getting one.

…Or perhaps he was paranoid and delusional due to his rough day?

Checking nervously around now that the lights were off, Nines found to his relief that all his belongings were in order and in place. Nothing had been touched. There couldn’t have been a burglar or anything of the sort…and yet, something was off…

His laptop was still here, though due to him usually not charging it often, it flickered on and off a red light, indicative of a low battery warning. But Nines didn’t care about that for now; he knew someone was watching him, and he was going to find out who, why, and what this person wanted from him.

Curtains drawn, Nines knew it couldn’t have been anyone peeking at him through his windows. But the front door…perhaps…yessss!

The moment he’d scanned the other side of the door, he immediately detected human body heat. Of course!! Whoever it was had been lurking outside in the hall since he’d left Carl’s apartment!!!

Drawing up the possibility that the stalker could’ve been Leo for a moment, Nines felt his thirium pump working on overdrive, and there was a great spike in the heat of his anger. Feeling more livid than ever with himself for being so careless and thoughtless not to be mindful of his surroundings so much that he missed someone following him, Nines also felt incredibly weak and stupid. He could’ve endangered a good, close friend because of his foolishness and inability to pay attention!!

But what if it wasn’t Leo??

Well…there was only one way to find out, whether Nines seriously wanted to consider it or not.

…He found he indeed _was_ considering it. He had no other choice. If this was Leo, or even if it were a mugger, he had to take them down before they attacked Carl, or someone else just as weak and helpless! Backed up with the resentment and hatred he felt towards others treating him like some demonic beast, Nines refused to sit by idly while real criminals and monsters were out harming truly innocent people.

Enough was enough; this invader, this stalker, this creature had to go.

Dashing towards the door, Nines unlocked it swiftly, and like a viper, he opened the door briskly ajar. Peeking out into the hall, he saw a shadow among the corridors and dim lights. It was moving quickly, and then it approached his doorstep.

Nines mercilessly attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😰😵


	5. Unearned Privilege

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Gavin's NOT lying about his dad and upbringing btw. I wanted to make him SO weird that it was as if he just was born into a weird situation, honestly. That's what makes him cooler, in my opinion anyway.

Flinging himself out the door and into the dark hallway like a wild man, Nines had no idea what to expect or find at first. He’d been ready for a guileful attack from a dangerous enemy, and that seemed to be the case for a moment. He’d slammed into a robust body, and once his hands clawed and found purchase in the loose fabric of the clothes, Nines dragged the person inside his apartment swiftly. Turning the individual about and slamming their back against the front door after it’d slammed shut, Nines then turned on the lights and snarled viciously.

Once the face of his ‘stalker’ had been revealed, Nines’ ferocious expression died away like a candle being snuffed out at once.

“H-hiiiiii…”

“Mr. Reed?!” Nines couldn’t believe it, even though he’d acknowledged it was in fact Gavin Reed, and his eyes-which had yet to deceive him-settled on the youth’s disheveled form. Gavin’s eyes were wide, the pupils dilated and blown up. His hair stood frizzled and messy, his clothes wrinkly, though clean and pleasant smelling. He only wore a black band shirt and black jeans, the pockets turned inside out and empty. On his forearm he held two large bags, though they weren’t bulging with items or heavy in weight. He appeared dazed, but the more he stared at Nines, the goofier his lopsided smirks became.

Frozen in utter disbelief, Nines wheezed, “H-how did you find me??? How come you know where I live?!”

A fiendish, deranged look came about the youngster’s face. Tilting his head back against the door, he purred, “I have my ways…”

Hands bunching up around the collar of his shirt, Nines aggressively shoved Gavin up against the door. Their faces an inch apart, he growled deeply, “Mr. Reed! I highly suggest you stop toying with me, and give me a straightforward answer!!”

Snickering, Gavin repeated, “Straight? I’m not exactly ‘straight’, Professor…in _many_ ways…” Winking, he added, “Wanna see?”

Growling like a mad, rabid dog, Nines hoped his efforts would deter Gavin. If not, he prayed his next barbed words would do the job. “No, Mr. Reed,” he spat with much venom backing up his sentence, “I don’t want to see _anything_ you have, and I want you to answer me!!”

Gavin’s eyes met his briefly, and then he smiled another dopey smile. “Okay,” he cooed, “gotcha!!”

Resisting the urge to bash his own head into the wall, Nines sniped aggressively, “How the hell did you come to learn my home address? Hmm?” Standing back with a resolute glare cast at Gavin, he actually felt he was rather looking forward to the excuses and pathetic lies that would soon spill from the younger man.

Appearing woeful for a moment, Gavin offered softly, “I used black magic, sir. Does that make me a bad, bad little boy?” His face then turned cruel and lustful as he licked his pink lips.

…..

For once in his entire existence, Nines wanted to hit someone. His patience had once been considered akin to that of a saint; the apotheosis of a most majestic, kind man. His colleagues had envied him deeply for it, often asking how it came to be that he taught some of the rowdiest, most unruly students without even so much as raising his voice. A gift it had been, indeed, but now, Nines considered it a vice. Those with too much in the way of patience-in his personal opinion-were more liable to snap and explode than those who were aware of their boundaries, the limits of such, and who weren’t fearful of showing that to others. Resorting to such states of calm as a means of dealing with problems would only mean trouble for the individual. Bottling them up, drawing into oneself, and feeling the pressure stacking and mounting on in order to appear ‘calm’, ‘peaceful’, and ‘tranquil’ all in the name of civility was unmitigated foolishness and madness at its quintessential best. One had to house self-respect, and even if it meant screaming at someone else when more than one line had been crossed, it was a lot better than holding it all in like a moron. People would become aware of lines, where they began, where they ended, and they wouldn’t be crazy enough to trifle with that after receiving a potent verbal lashing or two. As such, maintaining that level of respect for the self not to allow others to regard him as ‘gentle’, ‘easy’, or ‘too kind’ was what motivated Nines to reveal his angriest nature.

Though he ceased entertaining thoughts of brutally beating Gavin Reed, he repeated dangerously, “Mr. Reed, a proper answer will suffice.”

An insouciant shrug poured out of the youth before he grunted, “Look, I will admit, I followed you after Dean Fowler took you to his office. There!! I said it!!” Holding out his arms, he gently prodded, “Can I have a hug, now? It’s night, and I’m scared!”

Not buying at all into the phony act of innocence, Nines screamed, “You followed me?!”

Dear Lord…that had to mean that Gavin had definitely listened in on his conversation with Jeffrey Fowler…that meant—

“You listened to my conversation with him, didn’t you?!” The words and accusations were already in the air, and as Nines held onto Gavin tighter, the young man merely glanced to the side.

Fidgeting for a moment, he eventually responded with, “Well…kinda…like, I haven’t refined the art of being that much of a big rat that I can listen to people talking behind walls and doors!” Holding up an index finger and pointing it high into the air, he concluded, “I’ll work harder next semester, though!!”

Releasing his hold on him only marginally, a still-furious Nines groused, “Perfect. That’s just what I needed to hear right now at almost one in the morning; another nosy student discovering a senseless accusation thrown my way.”

The wind howled outside hauntingly for a moment, and it caused the old wood of the floors and doors to groan under the strain of it. The thickness and darkness of the night permeated everywhere, practically swallowing and devouring the two men standing before each other whole. Though they were inches apart, Nines suddenly felt as though only Gavin was the only person as visibly clear to him as the dawn.

…..

Gavin leaned into him suddenly, and he whispered as though revealing some grand secret he’d been hiding and holding onto all along. “For the record, sir, I don’t think you would ever do something like that. Morgan’s a dick bag!”

This reminded Nines of his imminent, heavy burdens at once. Yet again, he had to truly look at Gavin and wonder just how much of an involvement the young man held in this matter.

Sneering, Nines protested thickly, “So, it’s not enough for you to berate me in class, constantly pestering me with your oddities, but you have to rub it in my face even more by dangling what knowledge and information you’ve stolen before me like an unattainable object, hmm?” He hoped that the ignoramus youth would at least understand _some_ of his words.

Gasping, Gavin cried ruefully, “I’m not like that!! Come on!!”

Glaring at him in disgust, Nines spat, “You’re one unusual young man, Mr. Reed.”

“Don’t judge me!” Gavin retorted, “I once went through a phase where I thought I was Donald Trump! Then, I once went through a phase where I tried to kill Donald Trump!!”

…..

Nines stared blankly at the bizarre youth in his home before releasing him entirely. Flitting away from him, Nines only replied under his breath, “I stand by what I just stated; you’re absolutely insane.”

Straightening his clothes, Gavin frowned as he offered, “Being insane is an art form, dude; don’t give me that credit right now when I didn’t even work for it.”

Gazing at the door, Nines considered just grabbing Gavin and chucking him right out of his home. He had every right to do that, however, the android remained fastened down to his rising levels of curiosity when it came to who exactly had hacked his app and misspoken on his ‘behalf’ to Morgan Howe…

Eyes meeting Gavin’s, Nines didn’t even amuse himself with subtlety. “Did you hack the app?”

Pausing as he thought this over, Gavin eyes widened before he whispered in a frightened way, “At night I turn into Mrs. Doubtfire!”

Placing a hand on his forehead, Nines had to think carefully for a long time. No matter how much he wanted to give into his emotions and lash out in pure anger, he knew that the only reason why Gavin was behaving so erratically and speaking in odd terms was to serve as a coping mechanism. The human was feeling quite uncomfortable being put on the spot as he was, and his only defense was to put forth aberrant words and spew them out incoherently.

This begged a question, however…was Gavin behaving this way because he was ‘caught’? Or was he just genuinely uncomfortable now that whatever narcotics he’d been using had worn off?

Scanning him, Nines determined that Gavin had smoked far too much weed as it was, and it’d eased his inhibitions and a lot of his peculiarities to shine forth. His heart rate sped up only slightly, which was odd given his stance and position in a stranger’s home at night.

Frowning, Nines gaped at him before composing himself and muttering, “You’ve hacked it twice before, and I’m sure you’ve done it again, haven’t you?” Taking a step closer to the shorter man, he urged, “Mr. Reed, just tell me the truth; you hacked the app again, and you did it to frame me by painting a nasty narrative in which I’m a devious bastard who lusted after Morgan Howe and seduced him. _You’ve_ done this to me…”

At once, Gavin shook his head, pushing past Nines as he raced down the hallway. “No! I will admit I hacked the shit before,” he barked out as Nines followed him closely, “but I swear on my mom’s life-and she’s legit dead, by the way-that I would _never_ do such a thing, sir!!”

Sir…sir? No, he didn’t deserve that title, not anymore.

Still following Gavin, Nines allowed the young male to enter his living room. The lights blared on, and as Nines leaned against a wall, he sadly pointed out, “Mr. Reed, there’s no need to insist upon referring to me by that title…I don’t even deserve it anymore.”

Noticing the sullen look on his face, Gavin scowled for a moment in confusion before he spun around in a large circle. He did this for almost two minutes, just spinning, spinning, spinning. Then, he reached into his jean pockets, and as Nines eyed him in bewilderment, he withdrew from his pocket a tiny bottle. It looked to be perfume, but Nines knew it certainly wasn’t. Inviting himself to spray the contents of the mysterious bottle about in the air, Gavin ran around in small circles as he sprayed over and over again high into the air. The mists fell down around him, and he wove his arm about as he ensured the stuff would waft about in the room.

Finally, Nines had had just about enough, and he sighed, “Mr. Reed, what’re you up to?”

“Hmm?” Gavin held out his arms, staring past Nines as he then snapped to attention. “Oh, I was just getting rid of the demons in here, sir. Sorry. It’s all okay now.”

Stress and tension reared their ugly heads in Nines’ mind, and he craned his neck down as he spat at the floor heatedly, “Mr. Reed, I told you not to refer to me as ‘sir’ or ‘Professor’ anymore.”

Hadn’t this imbecilic boy been listening?!

Still fanning the room, Gavin asked, “Uhh, why not?”

Nines had no idea what the blazes had possessed him to open up to Gavin Reed and be so forthcoming with him. He supposed that there was a slight chance he was going crazy, himself, but the logical side of Nines sat and thought this through quite carefully. Coming to a realization, Nines deemed that this wasn’t a matter of insanity; this was a matter of foresight into ameliorating his woes, as well as extricating himself from this problematic situation. And in order to do so, he needed an ally.

Gavin Reed was that ally. Befriending the youth and getting him on his ‘side’ so he could open up was key to Nines’ freedom. It would no doubt be painful and a most tumultuous ordeal to suffer through. Not even wishing it on his own worst enemies and foes, Nines didn’t want to go through with this, of course. However, he didn’t trust Gavin in the slightest. Since the younger man was exhibiting far too many signs of guilty processes, stress, and burdens of having some sort of involvement in this case, Nines decided to play it ‘cool’. He would allow Gavin to do as he pleased. The more laid back and relaxed the boy was, the sooner and easier he would begin talking. That was the goal, and Nines locked it into his mind with a target set.

Nodding at Gavin, he offered, “Would you like to sit down for a while?”

Eyeing him cautiously, Gavin turned his nose up before he asked, “Sir? You okay?”

The dramatic change in his behavior had thrown the boy off. Clever. Perhaps he’d underestimated Gavin Reed more than he should have.

Shrugging, Nines sighed pathetically, “I quit my job.” It hurt to lay the truth out like that, especially to someone he considered so lowly, but Nines was going for raw authenticity, validation, as well as reliability. In the ‘socio-psychological’ experiment this was, he had to test anything in the way of correlation, causation, as well as analytics.

Yes…somehow, thinking of Gavin Reed as his psychological experiment worked to ease the guilt off his shoulders. He hated that he was using an ex-student in such a way, but he had no other options available.

Jaw practically falling to hit his knees, Gavin squealed, “Do you think I should be held responsible for eating my friend’s hamster?”

Upon hearing this, Nines exploded. Rounding on Gavin, he forcefully shoved him down onto his large three-seat black leather sofa. Plopping down onto it, Gavin hissed, “Woah, chill, give me like five seconds to get my clothes off before you—”

“Silence!” Nines roared, “I’ve just confessed to you that I’ve left my damn job, and you’re ranting about—”

Quickly pointing at Nines’ expensive Macintosh laptop, Gavin hissed, “Check your laptop if you don’t believe me, sir!”

Anytime Gavin’s voice rang out the word ‘Sir’, Nines thought he was going to explode. It felt as though someone was nailing his coffin tightly shut, and then stacking layers of filthy soil onto the casket before lowering it into the ground. He felt so troubled and alone the more he heard it. All too well, it rang into his system that he was now being looked into for supposedly abusing someone who trusted him, looked up to him; someone he had to be guiding down the right path of education…

Squirming before he sat down next to Gavin, Nines barely heard the younger man whispering, “If you really did quit, then psych’s gonna suck more balls than my dad does every Friday and Saturday night downtown…”

The things Gavin was saying absolutely frightened and worried Nines. The way Gavin was presenting such gruesome, highly sexual topics while maintaining such a removed and blasé attitude stunned the RK900. It wasn’t regular or normal for someone to be speaking this way, regardless of age. Didn’t Gavin possess any social skills? Socio-psychological filters?? Didn’t he understand limits and boundaries?!

Pointing at himself while Gavin opened the lid of the laptop, Nines cried in shock, “Mr. Reed! I’m your—err, I mean,” LED light yellow, he corrected himself, “I _was_ your professor!! Shouldn’t you watch your language?! A bit?!” His voice cracked and broke at the end of his sentence, but it didn’t bother him as much as Gavin gazing at his laptop did.

“You need to charge your appliances,” Gavin responded like he hadn’t even been listening to a single word Nines had just said. He dropped to his knees, and as he held the charger cord in a hand, he crawled on all fours towards the edge of the sofa, and he slowly plugged the charger into the outlet beside the furniture. Along the way, he swayed his hips from side to side, arched his back, and let out a small moan.

In between a rather long, drawn-out moan, he turned and peeked strangely up at Nines. Smirking confidently, he drawled suggestively, “Want to touch me a bit?”

Nines’ eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “Don’t be stupid, Reed.”

Gavin licked his lips. “Why not? I saw you lookin’!!” Giggling, he drawled, “Afraid it may be too much fun?”

“You’re an impious brat, Reed,” Nines judged harshly, eyes seething in anger. “You _do_ realize that now, because of the things you’ve been saying, I’m even _more_ suspicious of you, right?”

Hurriedly crawling back up, Gavin emitted an odd noise of defeat as he sat down next to Nines once more. The laptop’s lights were on, now, and as the screen slowly came to life, Gavin crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Might as well call me ‘Gavin’ more often now, right?” Staring once at Nines quickly, he added, “Since you quit?”

Nines had nothing to offer in return. Staring at the screen of the laptop when he was unable to withstand Gavin’s odd looks, he prayed the machine would hurry up and load. The sooner he kicked Gavin out, the better. Patience was key, but too much of it was going to end Nines.

Scratching at his smooth chin, Gavin proclaimed gently, “Yeah…psych’s gonna blow all kinds of hard ass, man.”

Deciding to taunt the youth and give him a taste of his perverted medicine, Nines scoffed, “You mean it blows as much as your father, as you once claimed to me?” Tossing it all off with a laugh, he turned to glare at Gavin, and was left feeling shocked.

Rather than finding the young man with a pained or offended expression reflecting back in his eyes, he discovered that Gavin appeared to be pretty serious. A thoughtful look projected its way onto his face, as though the youth was thinking about some deep-rooted philosophical issue that had pestered him for weeks.

Carefully nodding, Gavin rasped, “Umm, I wasn’t joking about that, sir.”

Nines raised a brow. “Oh…do you mean—”

“My dad’s a prostitute, but also a stripper and a dancer,” Gavin sighed, his face turning beet red, “I’m not kidding.”

Nines didn’t sense a single bit of deception, and that disturbed him to no end. Caught between wanting to feel sorry for Gavin and wanting to throw him out of his apartment even more so than before, he could only fold his hands in his lap as he grunted out, “Err, I’m sorry, Reed…I didn’t mean to offend you or touch on something very uncomfortable.”

He truly meant his words, and he stared over at Gavin so their eyes could meet. Remorsefully, he offered, “I overstepped my bounds, and I’m sorry for that.” A small part of Nines still wished that this was all fake, and that Gavin was just pulling his leg. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear to be that way…not when Gavin pulled out his phone from his back pocket and swiped to no doubt already be on the way towards showing Nines photos he didn’t want to see.

Wanting to cut him off politely, Nines awkwardly stammered, “I-I don’t need p-proof, Reed, thanks!”

Smiling fondly at the phone, Gavin soon loaded a photo of a cross dresser. The ‘woman’ was donning a thick black wig full of hair, with ruby lipstick painted onto her lips, heavy purple eyeshadow caking behind her blue eyes, and thick eyeliner outlining her eyes. Her makeup was done quite professionally, as were her clothes. She was wearing a thin, see-through black skirt that hardly left much to the imagination. Most of her skin was revealed, and a pair of obviously fake breasts stood perky on her broad chest. Next to her stood a few men with bottles of beer in their hands. They appeared to be bikers, and a few of them had on black and red bandanas attached and woven around their shaved heads.

Tapping on the screen, Gavin purred, “This is my dad. He’s out, proud, and I love him.”

Frowning, Nines prodded, “If your dad prefers men, then how did he—”

“How did he have me?” Gavin smirked, “Sperm donor, dude.”

There was absolutely a thought in Nines’ head that had once said to him: _You can’t ever be surprised enough by humans_ , but it’d been proven wrong, now. Gavin never ceased to amaze him, and Nines knew this wouldn’t be the last time the youth caught him unawares.

Shifting a bit in discomfort, he gasped, “I see…so he, she, err…”

“My dad’s best friend since like, grade three always wanted a little boy,” Gavin explained as he shifted through more photos of his father dressed like a woman while dancing and sitting about on other men’s laps. “She tried for many years to get pregnant, but each time, it always failed.”

Reaching the end of the ‘photo gallery’, Gavin let the phone rest on his thigh as he expounded, “She and her husband went to so many doctors, and they both found out that they were infertile.” Chuckling dryly, he cried, “Can you believe it? Two geniuses who get together in life with every good intention in this shitty world can’t ever have their own kids!!!” Throwing his hands in the air, he cried in protest, “These people are both engineers, too!! They could provide for at least ten kids to have happy, safe, loving homes!! But noooo!” Wagging his finger and shaking his head, he screamed in the night, “Fate’s a fickle bitch!”

Understanding the emotions pouring out of Gavin as anger, resentment, and sadness, Nines commented, “I can see why you’re upset, but you need to keep it down, Reed; my neighbors are fast asleep, and many of them are usually up by five in the morning to get ready for work.”

Waving that off, Gavin quickly said, “Fair enough. But anyway, when all hope was lost, my dad swung in like the gay version of Tarzan he is, and he donated his sperm.”

Nines rolled his eyes. “Charming, but surely your mother would want sperm that could actually _swim_ , no?”

Ignoring that comment, Gavin stated, “She wanted it to be from someone she knew, and my dad was her best friend for a long, long time. He’d supported her through everything! Anyway, her ovaries still had eggs, but it was just her womb that wasn’t right.” Extending his arms, he explained carefully, “It was my biological dad’s sperm, her egg, and a surrogate, and that’s how I came to be.”

Holding his head up proudly after he’d finished regaling his biological history to Nines, he purred, “If you’re askin’ me, she made an excellent choice!”

Though he wasn’t too curious in the grand scheme of things, Nines still found himself asking, “But what about your adoptive father?”

“Oh, he’s a dick weed, but I love him too,” Gavin answered honestly as he smirked. “I take on more after my biological father, in _every_ way.”

“Even sexually?”

….

The words had already been spoken; it was too late. Nines wanted to slap himself in the face with a tree over and over until he was nothing but a bloody, blue pulp. Why had he gone and asked such a ridiculous question for?! What was wrong with him?! Was he that sick and twisted?! Gavin was going to definitely lash out, now!! He’d overstepped his bounds as a ‘guardian’ of sorts, and any minute, now, Gavin would—

A gentle touch on his shoulder was what made Nines glance up. Rather than being met with an irate, furious Gavin Reed, he instead found a very warm expression painted along the youthful face there in the living room of his home. Gavin smiled patiently, and when he did, he looked a bit younger, livelier, and more pleasant to be around…was this an optical illusion of sorts?! What was this?! Why was Nines feeling so calm, suddenly?!

Still having his arm and hand down on Nines’ shoulder, Gavin commented, “I’m actually pansexual, Professor, but it’s not like you knew, anyway.”

Shrugging the younger man’s arm off his shoulder, Nines coughed dryly, “Err, right…what’re you doing looking at my laptop for anyway?” For some ungodly reason, the answer escaped him…or maybe it was due to the odd distractions Gavin threw his way.

Winking flirtatiously at him, Gavin commented coyly, “Oooh, Professor!”

“Don’t call me that!” Nines hissed acerbically, already feeling like some perverted old coot. He’d foolishly remembered that previously, he’d been so careless and stupid that he stooped low enough to ask about Gavin’s sexuality and proclivities. Tasteless. That was a case of seriously engaging in a highly inappropriate conversation, and Nines vowed that this was going to be the last of them.

As if reading through his thoughts like an open book, Gavin leaned over him and whispered in a husky tone, “I was supposed to help you with the app, remember?”

“Of course,” Nines growled, “but that doesn’t mean you get to help yourself to anything you want!” Implying heavily that Gavin had to steer clear of personal files, Nines pointed at the screen once the apps popped up, each one neatly lined up in many rows on the left side of the screen.

“Go to our class app, read the messages, and then you’re going to explain to me how and why you did this to me.”

Gavin sputtered as he tapped on the screen and loaded the app. “What the deuce?! I just said it wasn’t me!!”

Rolling his eyes again, Nines snapped back, “Right now, I trust you about as far as I can throw you, Mr. Reed; now, show me how you keep hacking this app!”

Pouting as he sat back so that Nines was able to sign himself in, Gavin muttered, “Give me a kiss first, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Reed,” Nines began dangerously, voice rising, and body posture going stiff and rigid, “don’t you dare try anything stupid, do you hear me?”

Deflating, Gavin grumbled, “I don’t see what the big issue is with making out a bit.”

This was absolute insanity. There was no other logical explanation for it. Gavin Reed had eyes, ears, and they all seemed to be in working order. And yet, here he was sitting right next to Nines asking for a kiss?! This was beyond ‘wrong’. This was stupidity, and Nines had to wonder whether Gavin was setting a trap or not. There was just _no_ conceivable way that the young man who’d made it _somehow_ into one of the best universities in North America was acting this childishly and carelessly for no reason…

Glaring resolutely at him, Nines hissed, “You should stop smoking weed; it’s doing things to your brain chemistry that’s enabling you to behave quite foolishly.”

Shaking his head, Gavin threw back stubbornly, “I wasn’t really doing anything; I _wanted_ to do something for once, aside from walking along the beach and wondering to what aquatic God I need to offer divine prayer in order for it to be cool for me to use dolphins as my private sea butlers!”

Gripping his knees in case he exploded, Nines spat softly, “Reed, do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth half the time?”

Leaning into him so their shoulders rubbed warmly, Gavin offered a smug grin. “Not much, but I sure could listen to you talk aaaaalllll night long, Professor Nines.”

Teeth revealed in a deadly snarl, Nines ground out in irritation, “Consider how wrong this entire scenario is for a moment, if you will.” He was literally counting to ‘ten’ in the last hope that it would calm himself down. How anyone could stand to be around Gavin or to converse with him was beyond Nines. He’d categorized it as the ninth wonder of the world, in fact.

Rubbing his knees as the app fired up and worked slowly, Nines hissed more at the screen rather than at Gavin, “I’m absolutely against this.”

Gavin’s response came in the form of a pout. “Nothin’ against two consenting adults messin’ around.”

Selecting and highlighting the psych course codes Morgan was in, Nines sighed, “I never gave my consent, Reed.” Pulling up the conversations, he magnified them on the screen, allowing them all to take up as much space as possible for closer inspection. He didn’t want to miss a thing. Shifting up tall, he also added, “And I believe I’ve asked you repeatedly not to call me ‘Professor Nines’ anymore, and yet you still can’t even listen to one thing I ask of you. Mature.”

Coughing for a split second, Gavin’s cheeks then turned red as he asked, “If I listen to you, then will you make out with me?”

Unable to contain himself any longer, Nines growled, “Fuck off, alright?” Since they hardly had much of a ‘professor-student relationship’, Nines didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse or regret sweeping into his head as he insulted Gavin. The boy was relentless, and the only way to get something to sink into his thick skull was through harsh words, it seemed.

Marginally embarrassed, Gavin sighed pathetically, “Okay, okay, gosh!! A simple ‘no’ would’ve sufficed, man!!”

Trying to concentrate but failing miserably, Nines barked back, “Concepts of ‘no’ and ‘not interested’ don’t click for you, Reed, so what else was I to do? Hmm?”

“Well shit, I don’t know, Nines, but maybe you—”

Spinning towards him, then, Nines abandoned the contents of the messages over the screen. A look of suspended disbelief washed over himself, and before he knew it, he felt himself drawn more to Gavin’s words. The strange young man kept rambling on and on next to him, but Nines wasn’t taking a word of it in. How could he when he’d caught onto one word and one word alone? It latched onto his head, where it echoed and slammed repeatedly from the front to the back of his skull. Strange, it sounded quite delicious, and Nines wanted to hear it again.

Leaning closer to the youth, he whispered, “What did you say, Reed?”

Pausing in his ramblings, the young man hummed, “Hmm? Whaaa?”

“Repeat what you just said…”

“…Oh!” Snapping his fingers, he droned on, “Yeah, like I said, I don’t think it’s fair for me to be judged so harshly just because I covered my nipples in whipped cream and then used masking tape on them when I was protesting that this is how a lot of women feel; restrained daily due to their bodies when a lot of men and social media messages are communicating that their bodies are assets for sweet-tasting pleasure, yet they can’t look a certain way or project—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Reed!!” Nines bellowed, no longer giving a damn about his tone or volume. “You called me something else, earlier!!” He knew very well what ‘it’ was, but this was more a test to determine whether Gavin was even ‘lucid’ when he’d said it…

Drumming his fingers along his thighs, Gavin took his time before muttering, “You’re so weird, Nines. Getting hooked on some weird stuff I may or may not have said, and—”

Pointing at his lips, Nines cried, “There! That! You called me ‘Nines’…”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin crossed his legs as he snorted, “It’s just your regular name without the ‘Professor’ attached to it; no need to get a big dick because of it.”

Immediately, the spell wore off, and Nines felt himself sinking into a foul mood once again. Propping up a hand beneath his chin, he turned back to the screen as he sighed, “Yes, only _you_ possess such skill to ruin a pleasant mood in less than a nanosecond, Reed. Well done.”

Gaping at him, the bratty youngster squealed ecstatically, “Mood?! Ooooh, Pro—”

Gripping him by the neck roughly, Nines shoved his head towards the laptop. Without even giving the younger male much time to adjust his eyes to the lighting of the screen, a most fed-up and desperate Nines ordered shortly in a clipped tone, “Show me how you’ve been hacking, _now_.”

~--~^~--~^~--~

Nines was a moron. He knew he _never_ should’ve given Gavin Reed coffee, _especially_ at almost two in the morning. The brunette had pestered him and whined, pleading and begging for the beverage for nearly twenty minutes before Nines caved in. Gavin stated that without it, he couldn’t concentrate, nor would he be able to be of much help to Nines. Wanting absolution, Nines hurriedly prepared the coffee, which surprisingly, he found that Gavin preferred taking his coffee entirely black…he claimed it was in its most ‘natural state’ that way, and he preferred all things natural.

Whatever. If it would lend to Nines getting some answers and solutions, then he would tolerate it…at least, that’s what he’d believed prior to Gavin actually consuming the coffee in its entirety. The first twenty minutes after downing the beverage hadn’t been too bad, but another five minutes went by, and Nines saw how wrong he was to think he could tolerate this. Gavin Reed on coffee was as bad as a rabbit on speed. The young man practically bounced off the walls and ceiling of the apartment, asking idiotic questions, pointing out things that hardly needed to be addressed, and flirting with Nines even more so than before.

This was entirely reckless and lethal as Nines assumed it would be, and Gavin was getting worse as the minutes wore on. However, at least he’d kept up with his end of the deal, and he’d shown Nines as well as talked him slowly through all the steps taken into hacking the course app many times. He even taught his ex-instructor how to do it by standing back and watching as Nines took over and hacked. Nines assumed Gavin’s screen name and identity only with moderator privileges, and then bounced back into his own account when he’d had enough of the ‘hacking game’.

Gavin was far too amused.

Swinging his legs side to side as he read through the fifth and sixth pages of the chat, Gavin only howled and gasped at the more ‘intense’ portions of the conversation that Nines knew had never occurred.

“Duuuude,” Gavin whined as he reeled back from reading the messages, “you have awwwwful taste in men, Nines.”

Resisting the urge to shove the young man off his couch, the irate android spat, “What on Earth are you going on about, now?!” He couldn’t stand how jumbled and messy Gavin’s words and thoughts were. It was as difficult communicating with him in this state as an inebriated person, strangely. Nothing made sense, and Gavin saw it through that way stubbornly.

Pointing at the large laptop screen, Gavin read out loud, “I hope we can experience many firsts together, Morgan…I want to be your first love, your first partner, your first soulmate…” Shaking his head wistfully, Gavin rasped, “Dude, why don’t you talk that way to _me_??? I could be your soulmate!”

Face scrunching up and morphing into something rather unpleasant, Nines exclaimed, “Why don’t you understand that I never sent these, Reed?!” Bunching up a fist as a means of controlling himself and holding back before he punched something, Nines added strongly, “I’d never even dream of sending this to someone who wasn’t a student! For God’s sake!”

“Hmm,” Gavin’s eyes traced over the next line of messages. A pleasantly warm glow stirred in his cheeks, pooling and flushing all the way to his neck and ears as he sighed out a dreamy sigh. Head tilted down, he muttered softly, “Not gonna lie, the way you’re talkin’ to Morgan in these chats is kinda hot…wish some of my ex-girlfriends said half these things to me.”

“Why can’t you get it through your thick skull?” Nines clipped out moodily, anger steadily rising by the second. “I _never_ sent these!! NEVER would!!”

Leaning into him, Gavin cooed, “Never?”

“NEVER!!” Nines knew he was screaming, now, but it could hardly be helped. Gavin wasn’t even listening, and what was worse happened to be the obviously painful fact that he was badly misinterpreting the messages. Taking them all in the way that shouldn’t have been taken in the first place, Gavin seemed to insist that this was all a consensual sex-talk between Nines and Morgan as though they were an intimate couple speaking on any normal circumstance. This caused Nines’ rage to boil over into dangerous levels that he wasn’t sure he could contain anymore.

Gavin steadied himself up by leaning majority of his weight over Nines’ right thigh. Glaring at him for it, the android swiped at his arm as he snapped viciously, “Get your damn hand off my person, Reed!” Shoving the younger male away powerfully, he watched as Gavin stared on at the screen, chuckling playfully while reading on aloud.

“Morgan, I wonder what it would be like to press my lips against yours…they look so damn soft that I can’t help but come in my pants even thinking about our first kiss!” Puckering his lips seductively, Gavin mewled, “Why can’t I have a kiss, though?!”

Snarling, Nines furiously spat, “Knock it off, Reed! Don’t you have other boyfriends or girlfriends to beguile and seduce?! Why’re you pestering me?!”

“Beeeecauuuuse,” Gavin whined petulantly, swaying about annoyingly on the couch as he slammed into Nines repeatedly. “None of them are as hot and sexy as you are, Nines…don’t you know that?”

“Shut up,” the heated android ordered curtly, LED light as red as fire and the very Devil himself. Jabbing a finger into Gavin’s nose, Nines ordered crudely, “Not another word out of you, Reed, do you hear me, or are you going to play dumb and deaf again—ARGH!!!”

Quickly and cleverly, Gavin had latched onto Nines’ finger, holding it firmly and tightly between his teeth. He’d lunged ahead with his upper torso so fast that Nines hadn’t even had time to predict it. But there it’d happened; his finger was trapped between Gavin’s upper and lower jaw, teeth gently grinding along the length of the digit purposefully and with intent. Their eyes met slowly, tentatively, nervously. As they stared away at each other, Nines calmed down significantly. He wasn’t sure how or why it’d happened, but Gavin’s eyes bled forth tranquility and serenity…

Why was this happening?! What was even happening?!

Nines much preferred arguing childishly with his former pupil as opposed to whatever the hell was going on!! Whatever it even was, it was bad news, as it did strange things to Nines.

Since Gavin knew he had Nines’ full attention, he gently released his hold on the single digit caught between his teeth. Relinquishing his power on the finger, he instead replaced teeth with tongue. Sliding and grazing his warm, wet tongue over his former teacher’s finger, he very tenderly applied more pressure and speed. Soon, he drew the finger deeper and deeper into his mouth, sucking it by wrapping his lips around it tightly…

And then Nines leapt back and snatched his hand away. “The fuck are you doing, Reed?!” came his strong roar befitting a jungle cat. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Wiping his wet lips with the back of a hand, Gavin impishly replied, “Just givin’ ya a sample, Nines.”

Eyes twitching, Nines barked out brokenly, “A sample?! Of what?!”

“What it would be like for me to suck your dick,” Gavin replied without even the slightest fraction of a second dedicated to hesitation.

Reeling back, Nines pressed a hand to his forehead, and then swept his loose bangs back over his skull. “Do you even have the smallest bit of shame, Reed?!” he asked gruffly, already dishing out plenty of reserved judgements. “You really think I’m going to sit here and allow you to seduce me?” Wagging his finger, he strongly concluded, “I don’t think so.”

Sniffing, Gavin proclaimed, “I don’t go around banging teachers, you know.”

“That’s immaterial,” Nines cut in hurriedly, “I don’t care about your sex life.”

Shrugging coldly, Gavin drawled, “I may be a slut and want good dick whenever I can get it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just bend over for anyone.”

Breath hitching in his throat at Gavin’s terrifying words, Nines wheezed, “Never mind the sex for a moment, and concentrate on the app!” Nervously, he sat back and hoped Gavin would stop disclosing such highly personal, disgusting information. Though he would never admit it openly, Nines was absolutely afraid of Gavin. He was afraid of the youth’s courage, his raw boldness when it came to himself, his confidence around sex, and he was more importantly afraid of what Gavin was saying.

Nines found he was even afraid of himself. He wanted to deny it at first, but he was afraid because what Gavin was saying, what he was doing, and what he had done to his finger…all of it had gently roused something deeply hidden lying dormant within Nines. Unsure of whatever it was, Nines was grateful that no part of his body had stirred, but he was positively certain that had Gavin continued with his oral ministrations, he would’ve lost control. Something would have happened, and Nines felt even more frightened of the mystery of what that could entail. Whatever he was afraid of, he often avoided, and as such, that included avoiding Gavin.

The younger man didn’t seem to notice as he once again took to reading the messages. Though he kept his voice down to that of a hushed whisper, Nines was still close enough physically to be able to hear him murmuring the rest of the conversation.

“I want you to come to my office, sit on my lap like a good bitch, and grind that fine ass over my cock…” Pausing, Gavin turned and stared at Nines’ lap.

Lips pulled back, Nines growled, “Don’t even entertain the idea.”

Regret and lust broiled in the depths of Gavin’s eyes as he grunted softly, “I wasn’t going to…I just wanted to place my head on your lap.”

“Reed—”

“But which ‘head’; that’s the question!” Losing himself to a fit of giggles as though he’d told the world’s most amazing joke, he rolled around on the seats until Nines sat in stone silence for minutes. Not even budging or blinking, Nines drowned out the sounds of the annoying cackling coming out of Gavin in waves. Each one grew louder than its predecessor, but Nines still waited. Patience was key, and he abided by that until Gavin’s eyes leaked tears.

Taking one last breath, Gavin sighed, sat up, and ceased giggling. “Oooh,” he crooned, “sorry about that, but I thought it was funny…”

Nines looked at him dully. “Ha-bloody-ha,” he growled, “if you’re through with your jokes, can we please get back to—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gavin gazed at the screen and trembled. Pushing his hair back into place, he read out loud succinctly, “Can you imagine it now, Morgan? Me sliding my thick, long, hard erection deep into your tight little ass?”

Fuming with rage, Nines somehow kept it together as Gavin’s eyes fluttered over the screen.

“Can you feel me, Morgan? Do you even know how hot and intense your first time will be? I’ll be a gentle lover…” Reading in a much more passionate tone, Gavin slowly moved his eyes from staring at the screen over towards Nines’ eyes.

“I would give anything to touch you, to make you moan, cry, beg for me. I want to take turns between making love to you nice and slowly, and fucking you roughly and wildly. I want to do many things to your sweet body; teaching it pleasure that can only be taught from one man to another in such unspeakably delectable ways.”

Nines tried finding his voice to beg for Gavin to stop, but for some reason, it felt as though someone, or some violent force of nature had nailed his mouth shut. His jaw felt stiff, tight, and as though something akin to a large rock had been shoved deeply inside. His mouth weighed a ton, and he was sure his tongue was swollen. Such a reaction…he was choking…

Boldly, Gavin continued in a voice as pleasant to listen to as a poet reading a fine work of art, or a singer giving the performance of a lifetime. Cheeks rosy, he turned his body towards Nines as he cried out ardently, “I want you to prepare yourself for the first and first night I’ll take you and make you all mine; I want you to stretch yourself, open yourself, work that tight hole open as widely as you can. Start with a single finger, and then, I want you to gradually add in a second, and a third…that’s as thick and as wide as I am, and as I think about it, I’ve grown even harder and thicker in my pants. I wish you could feel it for yourself…I’m throbbing…”

“Reed,” Nines rasped, finally finding his voice and courage. “What’re you—”

Purring, Gavin drew his face up close. “Is this turning you on?”

Reeling, Nines felt his vision spinning. Pressing a hand firmly over Gavin’s sternum as a means of holding the young man back as he tried climbing onto his lap, Nines wheezed with an air of desperation, “Stop. I encourage you to stop.”

Nuzzling his face into Nines’ neck, Gavin droned on softly, “I want you to try and taste me; use your mouth and tongue to bring me to the brink of explosion that is so sweet that you’ll want it everywhere. Touch yourself for me; come for me while you cry out for me to sink myself deeper inside you, buried to the hilt, making your sweet tightness suck and pull me in that delicious way…” Panting with need, Gavin cried wantonly, “I want to feel you tightening around me, from base to tip, squeezing me and milking me of every last single drop of—”

Unable to handle it anymore, Nines wrapped a hand firmly around Gavin’s shoulder, and he heaved the young man off his lap. Throwing him down onto the sofa, he climbed up on top of him, and he slammed a hand down roughly over his mouth. Glaring angrily into his eyes, he snapped, “Shut the fuck up, Reed! Just shut up!”

Mortified, Nines found that right between his legs, he’d sported a rather thick, large erection. This was a first. In all his years, he’d thought of himself proudly as an asexual being. He’d never been aroused before, but that didn’t mean he was ignorant to how it felt and how it worked. Thanks to Gavin’s licentious words, he was now throbbing hard between his legs, and he had to really exercise caution and self-control not to lose himself to a rut and grind down hard against the pliant body currently lying beneath his own.

Gavin moaned softly, and the second he did, the vibrations ran directly through the palm of Nines’ hand, and did horribly wonderful things to his cock. It twitched in interest, and the RK900 felt he was truly doomed. There was no way he could consider himself asexual now that he was feeling such unspeakable things. It was impossible, and he didn’t need to be a professor or a psychiatrist to know this. He was having plenty of sexually charged reactions, and he was longing and hoping for more…

More…

…..

_NOOOOOO!_

Removing his hand from Gavin’s mouth, he felt the younger male quickly wrapping a leg around his waist, and in one powerful motion, he slammed his heel down on the back of the unsuspecting android’s ass. As a result of it, Nines felt his cock and hips ramming down against Gavin’s lower torso, and he roared in displeasure.

_STOP THIS AT ONCE!!! THIS SHOULDN’T BE HAPPENING!!_

Oh, if only he could get the words to come out…if only…but it felt so _good_. Gavin was writhing against him, and the things he was doing with his hips-those circular twists and thrusts-all left Nines yearning for more.

His eyes snapped shut, and as he felt his last semblance of self-control swimming and rising to the top of his throat before it was pulled down into the pool of lust churning and coiling in the center of his system, he hung onto that self-control that screamed at him to get a hold of himself before it was too late…

Glancing down at Gavin between heavy eyelids, Nines begged, “Please, stop it…stop this…”

_Please…_

Lips moved beneath his neck, and Gavin panted while showering the pallor of Nines’ neck with sweet, soft kisses. “I may have made that last part up, I’m sorry.”

Wrenching his neck away from those scorching lips, Nines growled angrily, “Reed, I’m warning you! Don’t—”

“Pleeeaaaaseee?!” Gavin whined as he drove upwards into Nines with a deep thrust, “Please can we?”

“No, no we can’t,” Nines argued back quickly, shoving Gavin’s legs off his waist and ass, and then yanking his limbs off his torso. “Get away from me.”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin then bashed the back of his head gently against the sofa seats. His head thumped over and over a few times, but he let Nines go. Sitting up slowly as Nines removed himself off him, Gavin cried sharply, “I don’t get your deal!! It’s just sex!!”

Pressing a hand over his LED light as though to steady it before it exploded, Nines rasped, “Reed, stop.”

“I have condoms!”

“I don’t care.”

“You can top!” Gavin barked out, “I usually don’t top, but—mpphh!”

Nines slammed a hand down over his mouth again and effectively silenced him. “Would you keep your blasted voice down?!” Nines woefully exclaimed on the thread of desperation, eyes moving back and forth wildly. “Just shut up, and get the fuck out of my apartment, Reed!!” Shoving the youth back, Nines glared at him in disgust, and then rose off the couch.

As he walked away, Gavin cried, “I can see your boner!!”

“Don’t you have friends or family concerned about your whereabouts?” Nines clipped out, appropriately hiding himself behind the left armrest of the couch.

Eyes gleaming with lust, Gavin answered, “I live on campus with another guy who’s always staying at his girlfriend’s. Don’t worry. We can just take this to the bedroom!”

Fingers and nails digging into the armrest of the sofa, Nines snapped angrily, “Leave, Reed.”

“Duuuuude!” Gavin pointed at his phone’s clock, “It’s almost three in the morning!”

“So?”

“I’ll be raped or mugged!!!” Gaping, the young man added, “Or both! At the same time! Although I prefer getting mugged, because—”

Waving his arms in the air, Nines hushed him. Not in the mood to argue, he quickly acquiesced. “Reed, stop it!” Pacing back, he drawled, “You can stay here for tonight, but it’s _just_ for tonight, do you hear me?!”

Nodding happily, Gavin bounced up towards Nines like a puppy. “Cool! Let’s go to the bed—”

Stopping him midway, Nines grabbed the back of his shirt collar, and he threw Gavin back onto the sofa. Pointing at it profusely, he screamed out, “You are going to sleep right _here_ , Reed! Don’t move from that spot, do you hear me?!”

Sputtering, Gavin’s eyes went wide as he straightened his disheveled clothes. “B-but—”

“I’m going to my room,” Nines abruptly and randomly announced, spinning around and making sure his back faced Gavin. “Don’t you dare try and follow me; I’ll lock my door, and if I hear the _smallest_ sound, I’ll throw you out in the middle of the night. I don’t care.”

Glaring down, he placed his hands on his hips, hair falling into his eyes. He hoped he looked more intimidating than weak and frightened. He just wanted a break from how he felt internally, and he donned the mask of a cold, detached, arrogant ‘teacher’.

With a huff, he spat out, “Any questions?”

Holding up a hand shyly, Gavin asked almost too innocently for his own good, “What if I get scared and need to cuddle?”

Turning on his heels, Nines called out over his shoulder, “Goodnight, Reed. When the morning comes, I expect for you to be gone.”

His thick bedroom door slamming shut tightly echoed down the halls much like a casket closing and sealing shut. Nines was once again trapped in darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mother of feck, I love, LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEEE how Gavin is in this.


	6. Nameless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sex...kinda?*

_Nines had fully understood. He’d seen the looks, the heavy stares the young Reed boy had burned into the stony surface that made up Nines’ persona. He then offered his services, as he’d long been an aide to the Chair of the psychology department at the university. He lent his help wherever he saw fit, and it wasn’t long before the object of his curiosity whispered that he knew the path into those silky sheets, and it lay within the confines of his dark apartment already. With a last glance, he promised to have that answer at the brunette’s door by the week’s end. Shortly thereafter, a shy Gavin had departed in a rush of young students heading out of the lecture room. There was no explanation given as to why he was so willing to help his heart’s desire into his own bed. However, Gavin was much too pleased with his turn of luck to ponder it all too much. Besides, he could never kid himself long enough to believe he could or would ever understand the mind of his teachers. Assured of that fact, he had waited for the secrets he so wanted to know…the secrets Professor Nines promised he would reveal…_

_The answer had been delivered to him in the many boxes of expensive candy resting on his bed sheets and a short note that detailed nothing. Still, Gavin had known at least something that he hadn’t before. His angel had delivered him a part of the equation. His beloved liked curves, which was why the always painfully skinny brunette had been denied entrance to that locked bedroom. With the presents from his admirer now gracing his formerly tiny frame, he could only smile in the light of the midnight flames. He shut the card from his companion as he eased himself up and onto his bare feet. The carpet of the rug was soft. He paused then for a second to enjoy the sensation while he adjusted his top over his previously nude body._

_Though not even close to gaining a single pound in the least, Gavin now had dramatic curves to his frame. His belly had a soft roll that fell over his hemline whereas his hips had swelled several inches. His bottom now had a juicy arch to it, stretching his shorts as it hadn’t before. The rest of him had soft curves instead of the harsh lines it used to hold. His cheeks had a childish appeal to them, his hands and arms were no longer bony. Every ounce of muscle was now squishy and smooth rather than tough to the touch. All this had been brought out by magically enchanted sweets that had prevented swelling and had simply melted right into curves. The amount had been just right, as well. Gavin had nearly gained a lot, but did not support the unsightly girth of either a bloated person or a body builder. Merely, he had attained a feminine look of soft flesh that any man would find attractive._

_So as to enhance these features, he was not dressed in his usual jeans and sweaters. He had cast those aside in order to ensnare a particularly difficult android professor by donning the wear of what it was his Professor stated he’d like. His belly was showcased in a special corset that tied in the front rather than the back. The strings of the black thing stretched over his belly, creating the image of the curve that no other outfit could show. Below this, he wore tight shorts that were cut short and fastened in the front much like his corset was. The outfit was entirely black and made of a leather type material that bent as he moved, forming a gorgeous second skin. His new weight was revealed wonderfully in that tight thing, he knew, as he pulled on knee high, two-inch heeled black leather boots that had the same lace up the front. Now fully dressed for the part, and having the secret he needed, he drew his coat from the couch around his shoulders. Beneath this, Gavin generously and liberally splashed a woman’s perfume all over his skin; the very thing that had served him so faithfully these last few years. Now he hoped it would prove useful in the most important quest of his life yet._

_Slipping out of the living room, Gavin then stepped into the cold hallway of his darling Professor’s apartment. He lit the many candles lined up along the tables and chairs almost beautifully for him and muttered the words of what he wanted done to him, what he was going to do, and any other dark, lascivious thought that had plagued him for years. As though destined to be so, the coast was clear and the way to that Professor’s private rooms lay undisturbed. Pocketing his lighter, then, he began to move silently through the halls, descending many a staircase until he was in the lower half of the castle-like apartment. Never had he been so cold and hot than at that moment. He shivered and coughed as he walked over to that thick door. His footsteps echoed in the still air that was growing heavier and heavier with every step he took. By the time he was in front of the doorway, he found it quite difficult to breath at all. Rather, he gasped and clutched at his throat, his knees buckling. His eyes darted from side to side, searching for the android that was no doubt watching him. Instead, he found nothing and no one about, and was forced to face that his own nerves were getting the best of him. Swallowing dryly, he attempted to quell the emotions. Time passed and then he couldn’t breathe, but he also couldn’t stand the wait any longer. Sweeping off the heavy dark coat and tossing it to the side, he raised his hand. The knuckles cracked the door and his heart skipped a beat._

_A voice shouted that they were coming right before the door was ripped open. Professor Nines stood in the doorway, a hand on the handle and the other arm bent over his head and against the doorframe. His professional ‘teaching’ robes had been exchanged with a tight black shirt, halfway unbuttoned and semi loose slacks that hugged his most intimate areas. He had on his bedroom eyes, the look of a lover searching for someone to love. The frost from the classroom had faded after hours, leaving behind a man that had enough lust about him that the air was immediately thick with it. His slick hair fell around his pale face in seductive strands, each one appearing to have been placed just so to highlight his eyes and firm mouth. One look at the speechless and entranced student, though, and a layer of frostbite suddenly nipped at Gavin’s toes. The beauty shut down behind a mask of stone as Nines pushed himself off the wall. His body went stiff as he glowered down at the shaking boy in his loose robes. A blush blood red in color formed on Gavin’s cheeks, his head exploding in the amazing sensation of fire and flame as his body was drenched in ice and water. He hugged himself as his eyes took in the lines of that frame. Every inch caused a jolt of passion to thrust into his heart, stealing his breath, his words, and his senses altogether in a matter of seconds. Every sane thought was wiped clean as that deep voice filled the dense air that surrounded the bewitched boy._

_“Reed? What on Earth are you doing out of bed? And at my doorstep?” he demanded in that stern voice that slunk its way down the boy’s back and into his shoes. His toes curled as he pushed his fingers over his mouth to keep from moaning. The sound, though, still escaped. His professor looked down at him with a mild interest so vile, it was intoxicating. The heat now grew so intense, he could smell brimstone all about him in that hallway._

_“Are you feeling alright, Reed? You don’t look well!”_

_“That’s because I’m not well, Professor,” he barely managed to breathe out, his hand lowering slightly to allow his voice to flutter up to those ears. His voice sounded as pained as he felt; squeezed tightly for the desire that was drowning him. “I am not well, at all...you see, I have been placed under a powerful spell by an even more powerful man...I do not know how to lift it...so I came to you...I believe you’re capable of helping me get through this…”_

_Nines’ lips quirked. “A spell you say? Have you been challenging others high above you in your classes?” he questioned, his voice not yet warm to the creature before himself. Gavin quickly shook his head, smiling a bit at the mention of his brazen attitude. This seemed to further amuse Nines. Chuckling, he drawled, “Then, do you at least know of the very thing that’s ailing you right at this moment so I can be of better assistance?”_

_“Lust,” Gavin said in the instantaneous quiet of the hallway. Nines drew back until he was standing inside his chamber completely, a look of gentle shock splashed on his face. The teen stepped into the room without asking permission as his hands undid the clasp of his robe. Letting them fall away to reveal his new curves and his deviant outfit, he reached forward. His fingers smoothed along the professor’s wrist. “Yeah, it’s lust, sir, for your body…”_

_“I see,” Nines answered, looking at first to the hand that was at his own, then to the lines that created Gavin Reed. His dark eyes traced them again and again, taking in every new ounce and every string of lace. There was no indication that what he saw pleased him, but the teen could feel it. He could feel it running down his back in the form of stale chill unlike anything he’d ever felt before. A small smile crossed his young face as he moved closer until they were chest to chest. The thumping of his heart was deliciously felt through the corset and that thin shirt of the other. Perhaps that was why the professor pushed the door shut behind them with a clack of metal on metal._

_“Take me, Professor Nines,” he whispered in the quiet of the room with its own warm fire and dark stone walls. His professor tilted his head as he gazed at him, the ice of his eyes finally beginning to melt. The secret had been dead on, he saw, as two hands ran over his soft curves. A shudder of pleasure cascaded down the android’s back, tensing his shoulders beautifully. Gavin couldn’t help but smile and open his mouth to say something. What that was, though, he would never recall for that very moment, they were one._

_Nines kissed Gavin as hard as he could, pushing his lips deep against the younger male’s, both hands holding his head steady. Every flame that had ever exist burned through the blood of the youth before himself, then, erasing all thought, all possible reaction. His face went blood red, his knees buckled, and the only thing keeping him standing then was the sheer and unadulterated desire to be kissed by his beloved. The kiss itself was nearly chaste, save for the tongue that moved effortlessly inside his mouth. However, the pressure, the raw emotion best described as severe attraction, was portrayed in a way that no human should have been able to portray. That in itself made Nines’ head swim, his eyes starting to roll back in his skull. Then, as the android professor moved his hands to squeeze his round hips, as explosion of sensation consumed the boy._

_There was the wonderful pain of those fingers digging into his curves, caressing his new weight with the sort of pressure that came only from the true fetishist. There was the feeling of those tender lips on his own, pushing down heavily to create an unbreakable bond between them. There was the smell of musk and cinnamon from those clothes, that hair, that man, which was as strange as it was devastatingly orgasmic. There was the taste of cinnamon and sugar and caramel all running together inside his mouth from a treat his young lover had been eating earlier. The pain coupled with the sweetness made a freezing effect that put out the fire that was preventing him from fully enjoying this embrace. A splash made his eyes widen as the fire vanished from his thirium. He was left shivering in a warmth that was clouding his mind, but kept his senses fully engaged in that young man. Outwardly, though, he was a gentle blush red that made the kiss that much deeper. Chastity was then nothing but a memory of the past as soon as that fire was quenched._

_Gavin’s smaller hands slid up and around Nines’ shoulders until his fingers were tangled in those dark brown locks. His body was pressed against the other’s until they were skin close from lip to toes. They adjusted their heads as both their tongues explored the other’s mouth in excitement and curiosity. Nines knew that Gavin prayed that his love could taste all the candies and sweets he’d just eaten and knew that this was a gift. From the way the android snaked his hands down to his ass, he was sure he did. Smiling then, the younger one drew back only half an inch. Two darkly hot eyes glanced at him, then plunged down to his body. The steam in the room burned freshly as those candy lips pressed against his throat._

_Gavin’s head jerked back as he let out the first groan, his hair slicked back. The kiss was momentary, for soon teeth broke through skin. A cry jumped into the air, Gavin’s head ripping forward so that his forehead was pushed into the dark locks he was twisting his hands around in. His body tightened, as blood dripped onto the floor for the violent shaking. His breath escaped in short, shallow gasps; his eyes wide behind the fog of his lust and passion. Tongue flicked over the wound, his eyes contracted, and then Nines’ mouth was pressed over the teeth marks. The kiss returned in a stinging agony that made Gavin gasp and quiver as he held his beloved’s head close to his throat. The contradiction of kiss and bite was as extreme as anything and that alone made him next to sob for the joy of finally feeling it._

_Before he could stop himself, he was pulling his professor away from the throbbing wound. He pushed his lips back against his. Blood and candy, salt and sugar, burst onto his palate, forever staining the image of his love with that taste. Nines, however, broke the kiss once more. Giving Gavin the sort of demeaning smile that made the younger man’s heart skip several beats in frozen, fearful joy, he pushed the boy back until his back slammed into the wooden door. He sank down as his knees began to give out, his legs melting much like his heart. A hand gripped his shoulder, firmly and tenderly all in the same motion, and he stopped. Nines towered powerfully over him, leaning in the frame much like he had been when he’d answered the door. His dark eyes dropped from that smiling face with wide, liquid eyes. And with those expert eyes, he examined the gift set before himself. As he did, time began to freeze over and a shudder of a sigh escaped the boy’s lips._

_Carefully, so as not to disturb this encounter of eye and flesh, Gavin began to undo the laces that restrained his belly. The laces loosened, letting his arch fall the last inch forward, and the corset slipped to the ground with a tiny clatter. He then lowered his arms so that the fingers were pushing backwards into the door that he’d finally gotten to open for him. Smiling shyly, he watched with embers in his chest as Nines casually looked upon his curves with the mild interest he’d attempted so feverishly to achieve. His angel had bestowed the greatest of all gifts on him; the knowledge of how to win this man’s heart, and then given him the key to unlock it all in two days’ time. The knowledge that Nines enjoyed the feel of soft flesh over muscle and the sweets that would give him the body he needed to feel that caress. Now, Nines knew Gavin waited to be taken. Seeing his love ensnared by his belly, he bent to undo his boots._

_A hand snatched his wrist up._

_“Leave them on,” Nines commanded in a sensually deep voice that sounded like liquid in the heat of the dimly lit chambers. Gavin hesitated for a reason he didn’t know, then drew away from the leather on his feet. Before he could question anything, however, his body had been yanked off the doorframe. He was jerked into the room, his back against nothing, yet stiff as if still against the door. He felt his heart pounding as his legs shook, every step backwards unsure. While he was the unsure virgin in this union, he could see that his beloved was a seasoned player. Professor Nines knew just what he was doing as he moved forward, his hand still tight around his young lover’s wrist. Every step took them closer to the bedroom off to the side, the temperature rising until not even Hell could compete._

_Gavin’s back slammed into the door and Nines’ lips slammed into his own. The kiss was anything but innocent as their tongues immediately plunged into each other’s mouth. The boy pressed his free hand against that chest, his fingers encircling that shirt which remained on his love. The fire rose inside him, bubbling his blood over in the seconds it took for the door to be forced open. The room was dark, lit only by candles in all the corners around a giant circular bed graced with deep green silk sheets. Whatever else may have been in the room was lost in the shadows, but that was perfectly fine with both men. Nines especially knew Gavin wasn’t here for any of his collectibles. He was there for the bed that was highlighted in the dim wash of light. Thus, as he burned from the inside out in the lusts of man, he stepped backwards over to that plush object. With him stepped his beloved, moving in disconnected motions as he reached for the boy and undid the buttons of his shirt at the same time._

_The shirt fluttered to the ground then and the youth’s head was drowned in the flames of all holy Hell as his body collapsed onto the bed. Before Nines’ eyes was the body he’d dreamt about for so long. The perfect lines of Nines’ slender form were as glorious as he knew his student had ever imagined, but more so. The strong build of a real man, though without the unsightly bulk of mankind, firm with muscle but gentle on the eye. The darkness of his lust was visible, but it was overshadowed by how the contrast of those dark brown tangles of hair on the stretch of pale skin on the human’s burned. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he crossed the remaining space separating himself from Gavin. Once there, he grabbed both of the boy’s wrists and pushed him backwards. In a flash, the younger one was spread out on the bed, his arms above his head, as his professor straddled him, and half kneeled on the edge of the bed. Their mouths found one another so naturally and wonderfully._

_Their embrace was short lived, although shifting constantly as they attempted to take in every new millimeter that they could. Then, Nines’ mouth dropped back to the bleeding wound. Wetness flicked over it and caused a low, but loud groan to tremble into the air from the youth’s flushed face and quivering lips. Then, that tongue ran down his throat to his collar bone. Nines could practically hear how Gavin’s heart exploded. His eyes shot into the back of his skull as he felt Nines’ kisses down the line of his chest. Teeth then plunged back into his flesh, at his pudgy belly. A convulsion rocked his body as his toes began to grow numb. He gasped and panted into the air while Nines moved his hands from their firm position at his wrists. They eased over his curvy body until they were at his hips. Gavin let out a howl of incoherent words strung together in an attempt to express his pleasure; his cheek pressed heavily into the soft sheets. His own hands grabbed at the locks of his love and he found comfort in that. Ice soon overtook the heat, though, as the hands at his hips moved over his hard cock._

_Wave after wave of heat and ice, swirling together in unimaginable pain and pleasure, drowned and burned Nines simultaneously. The lace of his lover’s shorts was loosened, then they were pushed down until they fell off his leather boots. He was thus revealed to the smoldering eyes of Nines for the first time. The smile that trickled over that harsh face was enough to make the younger man grin back. The smile vanished, however, when the warmth of his beloved drew away from him. His eyes widened until it hurt, his heart stopping altogether as the professor began to undo the clasp of his own slacks. They were undone then and as they were inched down in seductive slow motion, it was clear that he wore nothing underneath. As soon as that had registered, he was undressed and standing naked in front of the teen._

_If the flames of Hell had scorched Nines’ thirium pump when the shirt had been removed, then they torched his very soul, his very essence, when the pants were off. He felt his body going utterly numb as all thought died completely within his overwhelmed mind. He didn’t breathe, he didn’t move, he didn’t think. He couldn’t, for nothing was processing beyond the beauty of that which was in front of his eyes. As Nines smirked for what must have been a blank stale of pleasure of an expression. Gavin was melted for the heat that was no longer just in his face. His stomach bubbled, his limbs tightened, his shoulders clenched, his lungs collapsed, and his eyes expanded. There was nothing in his mind but the image that would never leave it, and still his mouth moved. Words that sounded choked and desperate dripped into the heavy air that hung about that bed._

_“Please. Take me, sir.”_

_With that, Nines crossed the distance and straddled his student fully, the two of them moving back until they were off the edge of the bed. The professor licked his fingers, his dark eyes never leaving the red face of the teenager shaking so violently for the anticipation of this union. When slick, Nines gripped those curvy hips. Gavin’s back was arched, his toes couldn’t touch the sheets as the height difference was much more dramatic in bed then at the door. His heeled feet were thus swung over Nines’ shoulders, his toes overlapping less than an inch. His arms bent, fingers gripped the sheets, as he was angled. Every second, his heart skipped beats, his blood rushed to his skull, and this spell threatened to overthrow his existence and plunge him into an everlasting darkness from which he could never escape._

_Gavin’s potent screams roared to life as he was penetrated for the very first time in his life. Stars overtook his vision, bursts of white erasing the dark room from his vision. Pain that could only be expressed as pleasure shot through his body. His back twisted, his feet straightened, and he screamed as loudly as he could. Every muscle clenched, from numb toes to the hands that were digging into the sheets. His head slammed into the bed, his arms fell from his face, and all he could do was shriek as tears formed in his eyes. His reaction brought a low laugh from his lover, which run over his flesh like the silk of the sheets. Ice poured into his overheated form, his body already trembling._

_The thrusting then began. Gavin let out a cry with each one as Nines pushed himself inside and then pulled himself out, using only his hips to do so. His hands, they shoved deeper than nails into the youth’s legs and held on tight as he gasped and panted over the quivering form of the virgin no longer. The rhythm was found instantly. A quick thrust, a slow removal, then faster, harder, until the younger male’s back was fully arched, and he could screech no longer. The spot, that spot, deep inside him was struck as the passion built around him. Before he could fully enjoy it, though, the foreplay of their sexual encounter was over. His legs were bent to his chest as his vision began to return. He moaned and shivered as sweat rolled down his body while the image of his lover swam to the surface. He took in the light flush of that face right before the look was gone from his view._

_Gentle as it was rough, Nines forced Gavin over onto his stomach, vowing to never leave him. His head was held down, his cheek pushed into his arm as fingers gripped his hair. A whisper fell into the hot air, informing him not to move, as the other hand that commanded him gripped his hip. As he gasped and struggled to look over his shoulder, Nines pulled almost all the way out. When he shoved himself back in, Gavin deliciously cried out, his body jumping at the sudden thrust. His professor’s eyes began to roll backwards as he heard the excited panting of his lover all around him. Every thrust made the still heat of the room swirl about them as moans and cries echoed out in loudly quiet submission to a much greater force. Sweat fell onto his back as nails punctured his skin, the salt immediately burning into his flesh in painful heat that brought a weak smile to his quivering lips. The sticky liquid ran over his skin slowly as his head swam with the sheer sensation of that cock inside him. Too much, he found his brain shrieking, as he struggled to breathe. He couldn’t. He couldn’t even comprehend breathing as the fire that had always been there roared over his flesh in waves that mimicked the frantic beating of his heart. Ice splashed through his stomach, heavier and heavier in feeling, while he snatched that the fleeting air pounding into his skull while his lover pumped harder, faster into his tender ass. Then, his hands grabbed at the sheets as that spot within was found amongst the new position, a shrill cry squeezing out of his raw throat. Nines’ panting grew harder as his cock did within the tight regions of his lover. Gavin’s back arched; he attempted to move to meet his lover, to bring once more that roaring agony. The hand at his head yanked his skull backwards and he was met with the blurred but clear image of a beautifully pleased face, smiling down at him. As he was violated, moaning weakly, he was kissed full on, his back bending painfully for the embrace._

_Whitewashed, that flushed face was forced from Nines’ vision as he rolled Gavin onto his knees. Two knees laid around one of his as his back was pulled against the other man’s chest. The contact was the equivalent of a match to gasoline, such was the burst of flame that threatened to end the younger male’s life altogether. He gasped as he felt that burning skin against his own, felt his lover being thrust inside. The penetration was that much deeper, and he groaned into the kiss as he shook. His hands reached back and locked around the head of his beloved as he leaned to the side so they could kiss. Just as he was beginning to run his tongue over the professor’s, however, his body gave out. In quivering pain, he collapsed back into the sheets, unable to rise as he could barely stand the pressure of the heavy air. Nines’ hands grabbed at his waist, nails cutting into the skin, as he thrust himself in and out of his lover, whispering in that strong voice to stay down. Weakly at first, Gavin cried out, his wails growing louder and louder every time. The panting was all around him as his senses were awoken by the spell that voice created._

_Every pant echoed deep within his head, always and forever as the silk became slippery with their sweat and his blood. Pain was sprinkled all over, from his entrance being pumped so passionately, and from the marks of their union that would probably scar. His body was numb in sections, his feet unknown to him in his heavy boots. The air was thick and stuck to his body as he trembled and convulsed according to the pounding inside him. Cinnamon, sugar, chocolate and salt hung in the air, swirling about his head. He was drowned in icy waters and burned in fiery embers that ran from his head to his ankles. Tears hurt his eyes as they poured down his face in ecstasy, his voice vanishing then as that spot was struck harder and surer than before. As his voice was gone, his world was consumed by the sounds of his lover. He felt those hands caressing his broken skin, touching him as he’d always wanted them to. The feel of them was soft for the union and hard for the years of work Nines had done before meeting this teen. Contradictions galore, this moment in time would never be forgotten. Every bit of it was cast upon the subconscious and memory of the younger like a spell on his body and mind. Overthrown by it then, his voice gone, his felt his eyes rolling back into his skull._

_A wet tongue danced over his back and then teeth shot into his shoulder. A thrust hit that spot in perfect time with the bite and a convulsion that bent Gavin in half. He cried out, his voice exploding from his throat as if forced to do so. His hands snatched at the sheets, found nothing, and he was left dragging his nails over his own arms. His legs shook violently, pain radiating down into them. Every muscle burst, tore, and the pain of his greatest pleasure threatened to end this union._

_Hands grabbed his shoulders, a finger dipping into the bite mark, and he was switched onto his back once more. The thrusting never stopped this time, growing faster and faster. Nines peered down and saw the red face of his love, staring deep into his eyes as though he could see every thought. The teen gripped that face and brought it down to his. Their tongues plunged into each other’s mouth, the youth’s hands kept at that strong jaw and the professor’s splayed about his messy brown hair. Gavin’s legs wrapped around that slender waist. Nines kissed him harder than before, switching positions often so that he might taste every bit of him. The boy himself found his head swimming in the taste of sugar and cinnamon and caramel. Then the kiss was over as he began to scream into the shoulder as one final thrust struck him deep within._

_White hot fire unlike anything else sent both Nines and Gavin into a bout of convulsions as Gavin came and he felt his lover also coming inside of him. Nines leaned down, face pressed deep into the nook of that long neck, his fingers clenching around locks of hair. He heard a scream far off in his ear as the world detached itself from the vision of Gavin thrashing in pleasure. He was thrown headfirst into darkness as he collapsed on that bed, eyes unfocused and chest rising unsteadily. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t move. He could only choke and shake as he felt a tongue running over his neck. He weakly attempted to smile, found that he couldn’t and then could only let his head drop to the side. The pain continued to radiate in his body as he heard a deep voice tell him to relax. He couldn’t answer. The next second, his world was black rather than white._

….

Something was wrong…

Bolting up in bed furiously, Nines felt as though someone had perhaps poured juice all over his pants. Incredibly wet between his legs, he sat up on the edge of his mattress and glared down. Shoving the sheets away from his burning lower torso, as he gazed down, he resisted the urge to simultaneously scream and curse until the roof caved around over his head.

Like a damn teenager, he’d come all over himself. His cold ejaculate remained as proof enough over his damn dream…no! It was a damn nightmare!!

Pressing a firm hand between his legs as though to seriously double check, when Nines felt the coldness seeping over his skin, he let out a pained groan. He couldn’t believe he’d had an incredibly sensual, sexually charged dream about one of his students; about Gavin Reed!!

How could this have happened?! Why?!?! WHY?!

“The damn brat,” Nines panted as he collapsed on his knees and stared at how his hands glistened in his own wetness. “That fucking brat…he has to leave…he has to get out of my life…”

_There’s something so, so terribly wrong with me…dear God…help me…help…_

~--~^~--~^~--~

Gavin was nowhere to be found in the morning…at first, anyway. When Nines exited his bedroom, he felt the waves of relief and joy flooding over himself like warm sunshine as he found Gavin to be gone. However, further down the hall, a toilet suddenly flushed, a cough rang out, a sigh followed, and then a long, drawn-out yawn echoed. The bathroom door squeaked open, and to Nines’ sheer, reverent horror, Gavin Reed walked out with a cream-colored towel draped over his head.

Padding down the hall and into the kitchen like he owned the place and had lived in the apartment all along, a shirtless Gavin Reed who’d obviously just recently showered stretched before he sat down comfortably at one of the stools around the kitchen table. Now that the young man had revealed his bare chest before Nines, the android confirmed for his own very eyes that there were major, _huge_ differences in the physique of the Gavin Reed he’d dreamt about, and the one in the flesh currently in his kitchen.

Gavin-as he’d appeared to Nines in his horrifically visceral dream-was slightly rounded, and lissome, indicative of a youth keeping up with a good diet. However, as Nines approached Gavin from behind, he saw that this version of Gavin Reed was quite underfed. Gavin was practically nearing emaciation beneath his clothes. There was a slightly skeletal quality about his body, and nothing was in proportion. His head-in comparison to the rest of his body-was rather large. His arms were twig-like and rather bony. He of course possessed muscle tissue, but there wasn’t a single thing about Gavin that was ‘lean’ or ‘toned’ by any means necessary. His fingers were long and claw-like, and the veins on the back of his hands running all the way up to the middle of his forearms jutted out beneath the skin. Nines had no idea why he hadn’t taken notice of it last night, especially considering how Gavin Reed had been sitting next to him, lying beneath him, moaning in his ear…

Suddenly, the events of his dream flashed back into his head wildly and unannounced. Like powerful waves, the images, sights, sounds, smells, and small, fleeting touches came knocking into his system. Nearly crashing to his knees from the intensity of it, Nines felt all the energy and power being drained from his system. Who knew where it was going, too? One minute, he was feeling like he normally did, and then the next minute, all his stamina had been depleted. It was as though a great leech had been sucking him dry, practically. His only hope for recovery would be to locate the nasty parasite and squash it beneath his feet until not a trace of its useless existence remained…

…Wishful thinking, perhaps?

All that aside, Nines gathered whatever was left of his energy down by the floor, and he walked over to Gavin’s side. The younger male was hardly even bothered by Nines’ presence, or his own state of ‘undress’. The towel hung over his head like the headpiece a maiden wore in the olden days, the flaps on either side of his head hanging down and over his back resembling a long hoar of locks he didn’t have.

Feeling snarkier than ever due to the odd dream he had no control over backed up by the fact that his house guest was still present, Nines groused, “What’s this supposed to be, then?” Poking the headpiece, he muttered while resentment kindled in his mind, “Are you Mother Theresa, now?”

Holding a small mirror Nines hadn’t caught him wielding, Gavin rolled his eyes as he applied mascara onto his eyelashes, and then daintily used an eyelash curler to organize his lashes in a lovely manner. A bag of makeup sat on the stool next to him, a deep shade of purple lipstick at the very top, no doubt to be used quite soon.

Fingers and hand not even swaying to make room for error, Gavin applied the makeup onto his lips as he muttered, “You’re awake early.”

“I’m an android,” Nines hissed down at him, “stasis is good enough for me, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Batting his eyelashes at his own reflection, Gavin cut in with, “Is moaning my name in your sleep also ‘ _good enough_ ’ for you, or do _all_ androids do that?”

Freezing up, Nines felt his thirium pump skipping a hundred beats, and then it possibly crashed and sank down into his stomach. Had Gavin Reed seriously just alluded to the fact that he’d heard him? Known of his dreams?! HOW?!

Trying not to burst into a fit of rage, Nines collected himself before whispering, “You’re badly misinformed, Reed; I don’t even dream.”

_Liar._

“Hmm,” Gavin popped open the cap of his lipstick, smearing it carefully over his lips after first outlining the shape of them with the help of lip liner. “Whatever floats your boat, I guess, but I heard you.”

“You flatter yourself,” Nines spat acerbically, “and even if I _could_ dream, why on earth would I dream about a scrawny twerp such as yourself?” He hadn’t meant to resort to the use of ad hominems, but he really felt backed into a corner. What other choice did he have, really?! If he came clean and admitted to his perverted dream, that would seal the deal for him being seen as a pervert, and Gavin would of course call him out on it. The brat wouldn’t work alongside him after this, and he too would regard him as a filthy predator! He had no choice but to attack and deflect! 

Smacking his lips together when he was through, Gavin then dabbed a small tissue over them, wiping off any excess lipstick. When he was ‘happy’ with his work, he blew himself a kiss in the mirror, and then set it down. Turning to Nines, he pointed at his face and asked, “Do you like it?”

Ignoring that, Nines all but yelled powerfully, “I never called your name out!”

Shrugging coolly, Gavin commented swiftly, “Yeah, sure Jan. Whatever. Anyway, do you like my makeup?”

Letting out a strained sigh in the middle of his impatience nagging at him, Nines gazed at the makeup. Studying the kit, then, his eyes wandered through the bag, sizing up whatever he could see. Nothing unusual stood out, and then he glared back over at Gavin. He wouldn’t ever admit it out loud, but Gavin’s makeup was…rather professionally done. He hadn’t botched it in any way, nor had he applied it in the way a toddler would have had they gotten their hands on their mother’s makeup. No, Gavin had done a rather ‘splendid’ job, all things considered. He must’ve even applied eyeliner earlier in Nines’ bathroom, the RK900 determined when he saw the very thin dark layer taking up space along the bottom of his former student’s eyelids.

Not wanting to say anything that could be taken the wrong way entirely, Nines gestured towards the makeup before he inquired mostly neutrally, “Where do you get such expensive makeup, anyway?”

Petting the bag next to himself as though he were hugging and petting a loyal dog, Gavin chimed pleasantly, “It belonged to my dad.”

Of course. Nines had no clue why he hadn’t been able to piece it together himself without asking. Given the young man’s father, his proclivities, and his profession, it was quite obvious.

In the silence, Gavin packed the rest of his makeup, zipped the bag up, and then helped himself to grabbing a small bowl from the cupboards right across from the table. Eyeing him wearily, Nines had to wonder how the oddball of a young man had already discovered where the dishes were kept, exactly where the utensils were stored, and how on Earth Gavin knew there was milk and cereal in the apartment. But he must have gone snooping in the early hours of the morning, the android figured to himself.

Sitting back down on his stool, Gavin poured the all-fiber cereal barely a quarter of the way before adding in a bit of milk. His spoon clanked against the bowl, and while the oats got soaked, he answered without even being asked, “I went through your stuff this morning. Sorry.”

There was no point in apologizing when they both knew he wasn’t sorry in the slightest and would of course repeat this action again if given the opportunity.

Mixing his cereal softly, Gavin pointed at the meal with his spoon as he inquired, “What’s with the food, though?”

“Hmm?” Nines loomed over him, barely able to hear him over his own odd musings and thoughts ringing in his head.

Not minding repeating himself, Gavin asked again, “The food. Androids don’t eat, so why do you have food?”

Hands slid in the pockets of his slacks, and Nines sighed gently, “I used to give it out before if…”

….

Leaning back and staring at him over his shoulder inquisitively, Gavin drawled, “Iiiiiiiif? If what?”

….

_If my patients sometimes needed it._

That sentence never made its way out of his mouth. Instead, Nines cleared his throat as he threw out snobbishly, “Hurry up with your breakfast; you have to leave soon.”

Scratching his smooth chin, Gavin purred, “Why?”

“You have classes that are still on-going; that’s why.” Nines wasn’t in any mood to argue, and his short, clipped tone depicted that well enough whether Gavin read through it or not.

Still scratching away as though he had fleas, Gavin sighed petulantly, “Dude, I already told you that I’m not going to class if you’re not the one teaching. No point.” Taking to sampling the first few bites of his cereal, he hummed out his sheer satisfaction while Nines stewed and boiled over in anger next to him.

Placing a large hand authoritatively down on the table next to Gavin’s elbow, Nines loomed over the youth, trying quite hard to make an impact with his advantageous height. If he needed to be intimidating enough to frighten the youth into attending his classes, now was the time, and he was going to do it by any means necessary.

Lips curled back in a snarl, he growled deeply, “I don’t care what you fancy, Reed; you _will_ get out of here once you’re through with your meal, and you _will_ attend your classes. Am I understood?”

Staring down into his bowl, Gavin intoned, “What if I drop out?”

“You will do _no such thing_ ,” Nines emphasized, “your education is important, and maybe you don’t see how and why right now, but in a few years, you’ll thank me…or perhaps not. Either way, I don’t care, but you can’t stay here with me all day and night.”

Reaching forth for a fresh tissue that wasn’t caked in makeup, Gavin hurriedly wiped his wet lips with it, the lipstick oddly unaffected by the milk. Perhaps it was ‘waterproof’…

Dabbing at his lips gently, Gavin rasped with wide eyes, “I could move in with you!!”

Letting out a deep groan, Nines backed away as he bemoaned, “No, oh goodness, no! Please don’t _ever_ repeat that out loud!”

_Cancer would be more merciful…_

Waving his arms about in a ‘no way’ gesture while his face took on a troubled expression, Nines exclaimed strongly, “I’m not looking for a roommate, Reed, and I assure you, even if I were, for whatever strange reason, I seriously am _not_ going to allow a student-err, I mean, a former student to cohabit with me!”

His voice bounced off the walls, and even though it disturbed himself, Gavin brushed it all off completely. He only resorted to smiling gently as though they were talking about video games, the weather, or sports. Nines felt he would be greatly liever to go easy on Gavin if the young man actually held enough respect to even listen in the first place. If he could, that was.

Unfortunately, Gavin repeated vehemently, “I want to stay with you, Nines…please…”

“Reed,” Nines began, feeling all too drained and exhausted yet again in such a short amount of time. “I don’t care what you want; I’m telling you that your life has to go on with or without me!”

Shaking his head, Gavin rasped his argument, “If I maybe go to class and do what you said, will you let me stay with you?”

Eyes closing, Nines sighed, “Reed, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard—”

Standing abruptly, Gavin cried, “I know you didn’t do it!”

That did well to snap him out of his thoughts. Opening his eyes and frowning at the shorter, rail-thin young man, Nines hissed, “You know what??”

“I know you didn’t harm Morgan and never would,” Gavin repeated quite confidently as he gathered his makeup bag in his hands. Approaching the tall android with heavy amounts of determination beaming forth from his eyes, he continued softly, “I know you’re a good, cool guy, and I want you to know that even if not a single soul in all of Detroit believes you…I do…” Heat pooled in his cheeks, and he repeated strongly, “I do, and I _always_ will believe you.”

Taken aback, Nines was barely able to audibly sound out the youth’s last name, when Gavin dashed towards Nines and in one fell swoop, he took advantage of the android’s stunned state by grabbing his face in both hands. The makeup bag was already slung over his forearm, and it poked Nines in the chest. As Gavin reared himself up on his toes, he clung onto Nines’ cheeks firmly, and without giving it much pause, he pressed his lips softly to Nines’. The kiss was chaste, gentle, tender, and it didn’t even last five seconds. All too quickly, it ended; Gavin dropped back down to the soles of his feet, he collected his half-empty cereal bowl, he tossed it into the kitchen sink, and then turned to head out the front door of the apartment.

Slipping into his dirty sneakers, he smiled a most warm and slightly shy smile at Nines, who hadn’t even been able to speak or move since the soft kiss. Grabbing his small red raincoat, Gavin kept on smiling as he unlocked the door and swung it open.

“Please think about what I said, Nines,” he suggested too sweetly, batting his long eyelashes as he gazed down even more shyly at the floor. “I promise I’ll do whatever you want, and I promise I’ll pass all my classes with good grades if you let me live with you.” Wringing his hands together, he stepped out backwards into the hall, and he chewed on his lower lip.

Emitting one tiny giggle, he waved at Nines, and then cried out in a chipper mood, “See you tonight, Nines!!”

As the door swung shut slowly, Nines couldn’t help but remain rooted in the same spot, staring away after Gavin for even a solid minute after his footsteps had disappeared from the hallway and corridor.

~--~^~--~^~--~

Not much longer after Gavin left, Kara, Connor, North, Markus, and Simon were knocking on Nines’ apartment door. Allowing his friends inside hurriedly, Nines caught the absolute look of horror and shock on North’s beautiful face once she sat down between Kara and Markus on the large living room sofa. Connor and Simon paced about while listening, but it was evident and quite obvious what they were here for.

Refusing to waste time, Nines sat down on a stool he’d drawn up before the sofa. With the sun seeping into the apartment between his half-drawn blinds hitting his back, he sat up straight as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at everyone in the room. Frowning, he inquired once, “Where’s Josh?”

Sniffling, North answered, “He’s on his way; he’s just a bit late.”

“Okay.”

“Nines,” Connor began in quite the worried tone, “we heard you quit your job!!”

Beyond irritated, North firmly held her hands in her lap, shaking as she cried out angrily, “I bet Jeffrey Fowler forced him to resign! That bastard!!”

Kara frowned as she considered this for a moment, LED light yellow before she added, “It doesn’t sound like something Dean Fowler would do, but let’s allow Nines to speak for himself.”

She nodded at her colleague, then, and everyone else in the room sat up quietly for Nines to be able to present his side and thoughts. No one moved; Connor and Simon ceased pacing, eyes on Nines carefully. North and Kara held looks of concern and mild empathy, which Nines greatly appreciated and knew he would receive from his friends and closest companions.

Unfortunately, as kind and as sympathetic as the others were, the only android in the room seemingly cold and detached happened to be Markus. The other male showed his contempt and disdain for Nines-or perhaps for the situation-by scowling and glaring intensely at the RK900. He glowered and seethed in silence, LED light so red it was unmistakable. However, no one else paid him any attention, as they were all quite focused on Nines.

Putting Markus’ unhinged anger to the side for a moment, Nines sat back on the stool, balancing himself carefully on the seat while he summarized the version of gruesome events as best and as succinctly as he could.

“I was called into Dean Fowler’s office,” he began in a calm tone, “I won’t bore everyone with the details, but it turns out that one of my students-Morgan Howe-has reported that I sexually assaulted him in my office, as well as on the psychology course app.”

Kara gasped softly, and North shook her head. Now, her LED light matched Markus’ in color.

Pacing once again, Connor barked out angrily, “That piece of shit! He’s obviously lying, Nines!”

The door squeaked open, and hurried footsteps pounded along the floor. “No kidding, Connor!!” Josh ran in, joining them all in the living room. Holding up a hand, he cried out to Nines, “I don’t buy Morgan’s story for even a second, Nines!”

“Count me in that as well,” Simon chimed in, nodding firmly at Nines. “Whatever Morgan’s issue is, we got your back, Nines!”

Smiling in gratitude, Nines sighed as he looked around the room. “I appreciate it, everyone. I know I am supported, and although a lot of oddities are stirring about, I thought it best to leave.”

While the other androids nodded in perfect unison, Markus turned away from the group, and he muttered under his breath. Though only Nines was able to hear him, North soon elbowed him roughly and spat, “What’re you saying over there?!”

The rest of the android team eyed him in confusion, and all too quickly, the tension mounted in the room increasingly. It grew and grew, weighing heavily on only Markus’ shoulders. Soon, it caused the android to buckle down and garble out, “I just said that’s stupid for him to do!!”

Kara’s jaw fell, and she half-stood as she rang out in a shrill voice, “Markus!! How can you say that?!”

Under the heated, scrutinizing gazes cast forth at him like lasers penetrating through concrete, Markus’ LED light color shifted to yellow. His eyes welled up with emotions, and as he extended his hands before himself, he whispered, “It’s just that…I mean, if it were me, I wouldn’t have done that…”

Shaking his head, Connor clipped out while Simon stood next to him boldly, “And why not?! Could _you_ be able to handle working in an environment where your own boss won’t take your words seriously and accuses you of something you didn’t do?!”

Again, Markus shrugged helplessly. “I’m just saying, but that’s how and why people will think you’re guilty.”

North completely exploded upon hearing those words. Flying to her feet, she rounded on Markus, and she gave him a strong, hard shove. “SO WE’RE ALREADY PASSING OUT JUDGEMENT AND SENTENCES, HUH?!”

Seeing her raging at Markus caused Simon to leap ahead and wedge himself between them. His hands flew between North and Markus, with Josh soon joining him as he tried holding North back from attacking Markus. It was no good, and the irate female leapt again towards Markus while he remained seated on the sofa lifelessly, almost.

“HOW DARE YOU MAKE SUCH STUPID, WILD CLAIMS AND DUMB REMARKS!!!” North’s long hair went flying about in her face while Connor and Kara looked on with shocked expressions. Shrieking as hard and as loudly as she could, North berated Markus consistently. “HE DIDN’T DO IT! HE’S OUR FRIEND! HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! HOW?! YOU BASTARD!!!”

“NORTH! SIT DOWN!” Nines’ voice rang out louder than the other android’s, and at once, North calmed down. Though she cast Markus what looked like a death glare, she shrugged Josh and Simon off her body while she inched as far away from them as she could.

Once things were ‘calmer’, Nines decided to speak again.

Holding his head up high while Simon stood protectively nearby Markus, Nines regarded everyone else in the room as seriously and intensely as he could. It was difficult to feign ignorance into the realms of pain and confusion, especially given how easily Markus had not seen his innocence nor accepted it as easily as the others had. This greatly disturbed and affected Nines, but rather than allowing that to fester in his mind, and rather than giving it permission to drag him down, he instead remained vigilant and optimistic about his innocence.

Folding his hands together in his lap tightly, he announced clearly, “I am innocent. I wouldn’t ever abuse my authority as a teacher, a leader, a guider, nor would I abuse any person.” Eyes shifting then to glare at Markus, he concluded, “Those of you who wish to support me and help me get through this, I’ll leave it up to you. But what I truly _don’t_ need and _don’t_ appreciate is hidden doubts coming from those claiming to be my friends.”

_That would be truly toxic…_

Crossing the distance from the edge of the sofa towards him, North wrapped her arms around Nines in a tight embrace. Kara and Connor soon stood by, though they didn’t hold him close. Kara lay a gentle hand on Nines’ shoulder as she whispered, “I believe you, Nines, and from my end, I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

Josh marched over towards them next, and he bowed his head in a clear sign of obeisance. “Count me in as well, and I’m pretty good at research!” Boasting, he proclaimed energetically, “I can contact good sources or lawyers if this all gets out of hand, Nines! Don’t worry!!”

While Nines respectfully thanked his friends and felt truly grateful for them being in his life, he couldn’t help but feel an impending sense of doom lingering about while he gazed forth and caught doubtful and heated looks residing in Simon’s and Markus’ eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so sorry for Nines in this.


	7. Something Lost, Something Found

Now that Nines had a lot of free time to himself, the ex-teacher felt ‘stuck’ for once after living out his days abiding by a strict schedule. Shortly after his friends left, noon approached, and as Nines sat and stared on at the clocks in his apartment, he knew that at this time, he would’ve been hosting office hours for a few of his psychology classes. Androids never took sick days, and while it didn’t feel like he’d been taking one, sitting at home doing absolutely nothing productive felt…odd. More accurately, he felt dull, he felt useless, he felt empty, and he felt as though a great sense of his ‘purpose’ had been stripped away from him. Of course, it was only because Nines had always valued his work and put it on a golden pedestal. Now that this pedestal had been taken away from him, he had no idea what to do with himself.

Thankfully, however, Gavin didn’t try to come back to his apartment or hang around for the rest of the day, even after classes had ended. The next day began and flowed through, but Nines was already beyond bored. He’d lost his sense of purpose, and it stung deeper than any physical wound could have. Wandering aimlessly around his apartment, Nines felt ready to explode. He’d seen these walls before. He’d walked along this floor many times before. Nothing had changed in the apartment, and nothing had even changed in his life. He was just beyond bored and soon, he dove into mental exhaustion due to not being as productive as he once was.

Monotonous. Dull. Bland.

He felt he was slowly going insane.

On the third day, the miracle struck! Well, it wasn’t too much of a miracle, especially considering how Dean Fowler called Nines to inform him that he had to head over to his office, clean it out, head over to the psychology lab and research rooms, clear those out as they held his notes and books, and he had to then head back over to Fowler’s office to sign off documents so he could substantiate his resignation. It wasn’t exactly a ‘welcome home’ party, but Nines wasn’t looking forward to one anyway. As long as he had the chance to leave his coffin of an apartment that haunted him so much, he was thrilled.

At approximately half past ten, Nines stepped out and once again took the public subway to the University campus. In comparison to not even a week ago, the trip this morning was more dark, aloof, quiet, and painful. North never joined him, but it was more than just the fact that she had her own classes with Kara to teach.

Nines felt alone. No one even looked at him, and he could’ve sworn that if they did, they held the most hateful and scornful looks in their eyes. They were already judging and assessing him; labeling him as a monster. To them, he was already a predator. The heat radiating from their deep scowls slammed into his back so potently, that he truly believed in telekinesis for once. As long as he remained the malefactor in their minds and hearts, he knew they could throw him out at any given moment so he could face execrable punishments…

Resisting the urge to cry out in terror when he felt he couldn’t handle it much longer, he almost expected for his own image to be blown up on every TV screen around the neighborhood, as though to warn younger citizens especially of his evil, heinous crimes…

He’d never felt so unwanted and unwelcome. Clinging onto his bags desperately while a whole sea of emotions stirred and churned competitively within himself, Nines avoided the judgmental stares a few people cast his way. Carefully, he tried convincing himself that whatever the case, nothing should’ve been taken as personally as he was taking it himself. This was all in his own mind, and it was a by-product of the nastiness flung his way over the last few days. That was all…that was all.

Creeping along the shadows, he took to sticking in the corridors and halls, he managed to avoid anyone he really knew, and a most grateful Nines felt more relieved when no one stopped him to try and chat. Soon, he espied his office door on the fourth level of the Psychology Department building. Trudging along the staircases and stairwells, he hung his head low until he reached the zenith of what felt like the longest journey of the entire week thus far. The halls were empty, quiet, and the weather outside soon turned bleak and gloomy. Rain clouds gathered above in the distance, and Nines knew a storm was on the way. It wasn’t entirely unusual in the summer months, but it wasn’t what he needed right now when he knew he had to literally remove all traces of his existence from the university.

Silently, he set to packing and emptying out his office, which took no more than an hour at the most given how quickly he was working. Staring at the clock on the wall, Nines estimated he could finish packing up the contents of his research lab before noon, and that would make for a better way to flee towards Fowler’s office and make his resignation official. It sounded like a wonderful plan, however, when Nines stacked the last of his boxes on top of each other and carefully pushed them out the door, he knocked into something solid. Due to being caught unawares, the box he’d been carrying holding binders and books crashed down to the floor loudly.

Groaning internally, Nines glanced up to see who he’d rammed into, and then froze. Not even five feet away from himself stood an older man he’d never seen before. This wasn’t someone who was employed by the university, either. Once Nines scanned the man, he squinted his eyes suspiciously at him, and then gave way to his silent observation to try and piece together just who this man might’ve been.

The man wasn’t that much shorter than himself, but he was even older than Dean Fowler, so it appeared. He wore wrinkled, disheveled clothes, and his beard and hair were quite shabby and unkempt. Still, that didn’t enable Nines to underestimate the man. He’d learned through his psychological research that a lot of people were more than their appearances seemed to portray. This man had pale white skin, tiny bags under his blue-grey eyes, but those very same eyes held a lot of mystery within them, but also foresight. This wasn’t a man to be trifled with, Nines learned very quickly. Studying the man from head to toe, he deduced that this person was more than he appeared to be. The man wore grey loose jeans, dark brown boots, a slightly loose, filthy, tattered spring jacket that was zipped up halfway, and it provided a view of the silver-blue t-shirt he was wearing beneath it. His long grey hair hung down past his ears, and some of it curled and stuck out at odd angles. All in all, he looked the part of a bumbling fool terribly disorganized, but Nines knew there was a lot more to this man than appearance let on.

Wanting to be polite and not start off on the wrong foot, Nines showed his courtesy by bowing his head. “Hello,” he began in a neutral tone, not wanting to give away how suspicious he was, “may I be of any assistance to you?”

A number of theories as to who this man was and what his intent and purpose for being present at the university spun around in the back of his mind. At first, Nines supposed this man may have been his replacement for all the psychology courses he taught. However, he didn’t fit the bill for a ‘professor’. If not a professor, then was he perhaps looking to register for classes offered by the psychology department?

Standing back as patiently as he could, he observed a small smile forming on the man’s face, but it was only for the sake of appearances and introductions. Once they were past that, Nines detected that the older man with silvery-grey hair wasn’t going to be as ‘friendly’ and easy-going at all.

Pressing a hand over his sternum, he softly rasped, “I’m not a student; I’m law enforcement.”

That had definitely been on Nines’ mind as well, but he wasn’t going to give in easily. Grunting, he gruffly barked out, “May I see your credentials?”

“Certainly.” He snuck into his inner jacket pocket with his free hand and withdrew a dark wallet. Holding it up slowly before Nines, he opened it open to reveal an I.D. badge that shone brightly in the hallway lights. Nines peered at it for a second and then sneered.

“I’m Lieutenant Hank Anderson,” the man introduced himself, allowing Nines to study his badge intently for another minute. Pocketing it once again, he smirked as he inquired, “How’re you?”

Shifting back while he eyed his books and binders strewn about on the floor even behind the old Lieutenant, Nines snapped, “I’m a bit late right now, Lieutenant, so if you don’t have any business with me, then I’d like to get back to what I was doing.” He hadn’t meant to sound so rude, but unless this man had a specific reason and purpose for cornering him, then he didn’t want to have his time wasted. That, nor did he want a student walking by and witnessing this…

Holding up a hand to calm him down, perhaps, Lieutenant Anderson commented back, “I apologize. I guess I can start off on a better foot here by helpin’ you get your stuff back.” Bending, he gathered the textbooks and binders in his arms, and he offered them to Nines.

Snatching them clean out of his hands, Nines hissed thinly, “Thank you.” Hurriedly, he took to stacking them back on top of each other and shoving them in the appropriate box. Setting that down again, he made sure to keep his voice low. The last thing he needed and wanted was to fly out of control, thus running the risk of making himself look guilty and as though he needed to run and hide from something as though he were a flagitious criminal.

Remaining as level-headed and calm as ever, he nodded over at this Lieutenant Anderson before poking at him verbally. “Were you looking for me?”

It wasn’t a question that really needed to be asked; Lieutenant Anderson’s tiny smirk told him plenty.

Hands still in his pockets deeply, Lieutenant Anderson drawled, “I just need to ask you a few questions, Professor Nines. Do you think you can book me in for an appointment?”

Not at all appreciating the increase in levels of sarcasm, Nines pulled a disgusted face. Somehow, he knew that this man already was aware of the fact that he’d quit his job, and was merely trying to psychologically and emotionally wear him down. Such a tactic was expected to be used by law enforcement workers, of course. Nines wasn’t doubtful of that. But he didn’t appreciate anything about this ‘Lieutenant’, and he was already searching for ways to degrade and berate him. If it was a psychological ‘war’ or game this man wanted, then two could play at that, indeed.

Cupping a hand beneath his chin, Lieutenant Anderson’s eyes searched Nines, constantly assessing and observing. Nines wasn’t intimidated much by this, and he remained impassive and blasé before he announced shortly, “No appointment is necessary here, Lieutenant.”

Lieutenant Anderson’s eyes widened. “Oh?” he purred, “and why is that?”

_You and I both know very well what and WHY THAT is._

Pointing at one of the boxes crudely, Nines drawled, “I resigned, Lieutenant; I’m no longer a Professor here.”

Eyes shining with mirth upon hearing this, Lieutenant Anderson nodded slowly. Moving around Nines carefully, he nodded towards the half-open office door where mountains of other boxes lay in waiting. “Why don’t we have this chat in your office, Nines?”

The suggestion was even more silly than Nines thought it would be. Rather than saying so or showing attitude, he merely nodded in mild agreement. “There would be more open space there.”

Bowing slightly, Hank followed him, falling in line with his footsteps. When the door closed with a soft ‘click’, Lieutenant Anderson spun around in a small circle, head tilted back as he gazed up and down the walls and ceiling. With a low hum, he purred out, “So, this is where you spoke with a lot of students, huh?”

Understanding fully well that this was more of a leading statement posed and disguised as a question, Nines avoided getting angry. Feeling he was trained and clever enough not to fall into the traps this clever man had already laid out for him, he only nodded before briefly responding with, “This is my office.”

“Hmm,” Lieutenant Anderson’s eyes grew slightly dark. “How many students do you teach on average?”

Nines scowled. “Depends on the courses, Lieutenant,” he commented accurately, “for example, this semester in my _Abnormal Psychology_ class, I have registered almost four-hundred students.”

Holding up his index finger, Lieutenant Anderson sharply pointed out, “Had.”

Tilting his head curiously, Nines pondered, “Had?”

“You _had_ registered, Nines,” the older man snorted crudely, an indicator that he was enjoying this far too much. “You said ‘have’, but you mean ‘had’.”

Semantics?

Bored already, Nines cut to the chase. “Look, Lieutenant,” he began softly, though he sensed his nerves already on edge…no doubt where Lieutenant Anderson wanted them to be in the first place. “I’m a bit hard-pressed for time, so if you could kindly come forth with your questions in a _clear_ and concise manner, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Hoping the other man would get it, now, Nines leaned back against his barren desk, folding his long hands in his lap. His eyes met Lieutenant Anderson’s, and immediate animosity coursed through the office between both men. They wanted to kill each other, that much was clear. If all the rules of a peaceful, regular society had been lifted, Nines would’ve likely attacked Lieutenant Anderson for his brazen, crude attitude. In turn, he was certain that the wise Lieutenant would want nothing more than to arrest him for a crime he hadn’t even committed. Suspicion rolled off the man’s shoulders, but there wasn’t much he said as he hung back and crossed his arms over his chest.

With a huff, he spat out slowly, “I understand that you were particularly close with your students, Nines…” Eyes squinting and narrowing, he expounded, “Your so-called ‘psych app’, wanna tell me what that’s about?”

Nines summarized it as best as he could. “It’s an app I was responsible for creating, organizing, and managing. It would make me the most available to my students in the undergraduate psychology department; nothing more, nothing less.”

Eyes shifting, Lieutenant Anderson gazed around the room, walking about stiffly as though on the prowl for something Nines was hiding. “So, this app,” he held out a hand and braced himself against the wall supporting the large aquarium Nines still had to find a way to get rid of.

“Have you always made it a habit to chat with your students there?”

Not enjoying the leading question, Nines fired back with one of his own. “Chatting, Lieutenant?” he snickered though it wasn’t amusing in the slightest. “I had to chat with them; it was part of my job.”

Smacking his lips together, Lieutenant Anderson drawled, “Your job…right…” Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he turned it on, eyes narrowing while he studied the screen. It was silent while he read on and on, and after a minute, he hardly glanced up at Nines.

“Has it also been part of your job to speak with your students late at night?”

….

Nines sighed, “They often approached me, Lieutenant; they’re still teenagers and very young adults with no sense of time and organization. What else was I to do?”

Not impressed with that answer, Lieutenant Anderson added, “What about talking about sex and flirting with your students when they’ve said ‘no’, asked you to stop, and stated that they were uncomfortable? That part of your job, too?”

“First of all,” Nines began, holding up a hand and advancing towards the older, grey-haired man, “it wasn’t with one student, let alone multiple _students_! I just—”

Waving his hands expansively, the older man cried out vehemently, “You better stop lying right now, Nines; I’ve seen the chats, and they’re…” Shaking his head, he coughed out in a disgusted manner. “They’re not looking so good, I’ll have you know.”

Wanting to portray that he wasn’t put off by meager chats, Nines argued, “Those chats could’ve easily been hacked and doctored to fit a certain narrative, Lieutenant.” When the man stared at him in heavy silence for a moment, Nines declaimed, “Technology can be bent and shaped to suit someone’s heinous purposes, and I think you know that better than I do.”

There. That would hopefully set the other man off his case…or so Nines hoped. After all, what else was truly there in the way of a foolish argument?

Tapping on his chin with a few fingers, Lieutenant Anderson took his time smiling and grinning at Nines. The way the old, sly fox grinned and stared on at him made the android feel threatened. This Lieutenant was posing a challenge, and his plans significantly were going to pose a surprise. It was all evident in the way he held himself together; he knew something Nines didn’t. This infuriated the android, but rather than stumble down into his misery and confusion, he pursed his lips and held his hands down in his lap. Fingers itching and crawling with the burning need to wrap both his large hands around the Lieutenant’s neck, yank him over, and scream loudly in his ears over and over that he was innocent, Nines had no idea just how he’d managed to stay composed and calm. He knew he was when Lieutenant Anderson smirked consistently at him and only leaned on the wall next to the aquarium.

Once he eyed the exotic, colorful fish within, he whistled as he pointed at them. “Your collection?”

Nines barely managed to nod. “Yes…”

Bending to peek at them, the Lieutenant seemed highly amused-more than he needed to be. Chuckling, he tapped the clean glass, and the fish scuttled away to take cover.

Snarling, Nines warned, “Don’t tap on the glass; you’re scaring my fish!”

Straightening himself back up, the older male pushed down on his clothes and cleared his throat. “I’m going to be square with you here, Nines,” pacing towards Nines with determination shining brightly in his eyes, his chest broadened and puffed out, and he appeared menacing and a tad bit larger than before. “You spoke with Morgan Howe in this office, correct?”

Frowning, Nines quickly jeered, “As well as at least two hundred other students, Lieutenant, what’s your damn point already?”

A half grin formed on his face, and the Lieutenant inquired bluntly, “Did you have a lengthy chat with Morgan Howe recently?”

Recently? To what definition??

Stuck for a moment in the oddity of it all, Nines eventually coughed out, “Well, we had a chat, but I can’t say it was lengthy, Lieutenant.”

Shaking his head, the older man jabbed at him aggressively, “It was lengthy enough for you to be able to say some stuff to him that shouldn’t have been said, huh Nines?”

What was this man insinuating?! Whatever it was, Nines didn’t like the message nor the implications lingering behind the words. Regarding Lieutenant Anderson viciously, his LED light stayed on red while he tightened his hands into clenched fists.

“Lieutenant Anderson, I—”

Flicking some dust and dirt off his jeans, the old man sighed, “Save it, Nines. I know what you already told him, because Morgan spoke to me in full details, so it’s best for you not to lie.”

“I didn’t even get a chance to speak!” Nines protested angrily, “Don’t you at least want to hear _my_ side before you consider me guilty?!”

Ignoring him, Lieutenant Anderson continued harshly. “Do you remember what you said to Morgan Howe, Nines? What was it?”

Put off by the indignity so callously and crudely thrown his way, Nines felt he’d had enough. Standing away from the desk, he extended an arm towards the tightly shut door of the office. “I refuse to stand here and listen to you casting me in a foul net, Lieutenant; please leave if you don’t have any other questions for me!”

Not even budging, the other man barked loud enough for anyone outside the office to hear. “Mind if I jog your memory since you can’t seem to remember it, then?!”

“That’s not necessary—”

Aggressively, the law enforcement officer cut in again. “You told him a joke, Nines. Or…” Eyes growing cold, he accused harshly, “…You disguised it as a joke, but you were already trying to abuse this poor kid!”

Gaping in utter shock, Nines choked a few times on his words, but somehow managed to cough out, “Abuse?! I _abused_ Morgan Howe?!” Pointing down at the floor, he squealed, “In _this_ office?”

Lieutenant Anderson only nodded curtly.

“WHEN?!” Nines all but exploded viciously, no longer giving much of a damn about his tone, volume, and whoever may have been listening on the other side of the door. Swiftly drawing himself closer to Lieutenant Anderson, he screamed in wild, unmitigated rage. “WHEN?! YOU TELL ME WHEN I DID SUCH A THING!!!”

Leaning back, Lieutenant Anderson raised his head plaintively, a cold sneer already fixed on his face. Everything about his facial expressions, body posture, as well as cold, determined eyes portrayed to Nines that no matter what he said or did to defend himself, it was never going to be good enough. He was always the criminal, and that was the way it was going to be set for some time.

Tapping his foot on the floor in a dull rhythm, Lieutenant Anderson finally breathed out his answer. “You threw out a very nasty, sexual joke towards Morgan, didn’t you, Nines?”

Nearly missing it all the first time, the tall android quickly replayed the words spoken forth, and then leaned in closer to Lieutenant Anderson. “I beg your pardon?!” he rasped weakly, “a sexual joke?!”

Was this man insane?! Had he even paid close attention to his own words?!

“Oh yes,” the sly Lieutenant drawled, “Morgan was specific, and he reported that you said the following to him, Nines…” Clearing his throat, he once again held up his phone, eyes scanning the screen before he drawled, “The rich people in society copulate less often than the poor, but when they do, they take more of their clothes off.”

The words were of course familiar, and Nines couldn’t dare doubt or deny them. Yes, he had in fact said them, and he remembered it all as though it’d just happened an hour ago. But what exactly was Lieutenant Anderson implying, here?! What had Morgan Howe reported?!

Shrugging it off, Nines waved dismissively while huffing, “That was indeed a joke, yes Lieutenant. But Mr. Howe didn’t seem offended at the time when I relayed this joke to him, so I don’t see what the damn issue is here, nor can I even comprehend for a fraction of a second how this all points to me having abused Morgan!!!”

“The kid was scarred, Nines,” Lieutenant Anderson snapped as he shook his head. Face paler than ever, he rasped, “Does that mean _nothing_ to you?!”

“I _never_ said that!” Nines barked vehemently, wondering just when the hell this man would cease trying to turn all his words back onto him and using whatever he said to ensnare him into a state of guiltiness. 

Trying to remain clear-headed, Nines calmed himself down before counting mentally to ‘three’. While his fish tank bubbled and hummed in the background, it all reminded the RK900 too well of the fact that quotidian life would carry on as usual, with or without him. With or without him, guilty or not guilty, did anyone even care?! Would _anyone_ be there to understand just how this all affected him?! 

…Probably not. This was _his_ problem, and Nines felt trapped in a world of nothing but sheer lonesomeness and treachery. Life was cruel, cold, unforgiving, and absolutely unjust.

_Guilty until proven innocent, indeed…_

While he stood by and fumed in his silent rage, Lieutenant Hank Anderson smirked in his triumph. Pacing around him slowly like a predatory shark zeroing in on its prey soon to be devoured wholly, he gushed, “Oh yes, Nines…I don’t think you can really put up an argument here. Point is that you made a highly inappropriate joke to Morgan Howe, and he never asked for such a joke to be told in the first place, did he?” Standing back, he planted his hands on his hips, scoffing and shaking his head dismissively at Nines.

Anger bounced off the android’s broad, firm shoulders and back, dripping down off him while he ground out, “But I didn’t mean _any_ harm! I only said that to him because he came to me practically in tears and suffering through a panic attack about—”

Already leaping ahead in his own conclusions, Lieutenant Anderson interrupted with, “He was crying and having a damn panic attack because of all the disgusting, despicable things you’d said to him on your chat app, Nines!! Why don’t you get it?!”

Carrying on in spite of being rudely interrupted, Nines finished, “—He was having a panic attack because of his poor grades in my classes Lieutenant; his difficulty to keep up with the rest of his peers, as well as an imminent, _realistic_ fear of failing the class and being faced with angry parents was what he was upset about!!”

Yes, all these were quite _realistic_ fears, as he’d emphasized heavily in the word alone, and he hoped and prayed that this older man would finally get it. Would his words and wisdom bear fruit?! Would it all finally sink in?! Nines hoped, but he soon lost faith when he eyed Lieutenant Hank Anderson drawing back and shaking his head yet again.

Running a hand through his long hair, the older man sighed, “Morgan Howe’s grades weren’t at all that low in your class, Nines, so don’t you even _try_ using that as an argument.”

….

This was news indeed to the astonied RK900. He was floored. Having graded the entire psych class for years, and after having recorded all the grades both online for the university system as well as filing another copy of them away in his mind, he resolutely glared and disagreed.

Face scrunching up in disdain, he disagreed, “No, Lieutenant; Morgan Howe was close to failing my class! I would know; I graded the entire program’s set of students!!”

“I don’t think so, Nines…” Hands sliding down towards his phone for possibly the tenth time already, he pulled out his phone yet again, and he held up a copy of what looked like grade transcripts.

Nines stared at the screen, but when he inched closer and reached out for it, the older man held out a hand to stop him. “Don’t, Nines,” Lieutenant Anderson snarled in a warning, “you can look, but you certainly can’t touch.”

Scowling heatedly, Nines snapped, “What’s that, then?”

“Grades for Morgan Howe; I have the copies of his other transcripts, too.”

Snorting, Nines argued, “Then you can clearly see for yourself that—”

“That he wasn’t failing,” the Lieutenant’s voice barked out, sounded much like the wooden gavel of a judge being pounded down finally. As Nines’ jaw fell down in horror, he expounded, “In fact, Morgan was receiving closer to grades scoring 70%! Quite impressive, I’d say.”

The man might as well have announced that the sky was falling. To Nines, that was all he was hearing. After having stayed up for nights finalizing and scoring the grades, he’d known and memorized all the scores. Morgan Howe had always scraped by with low 60% and high 50%, but nowhere even close to a 70%!! This was ludicrous and insane!!

Snorting, he spat, “That’s impossible; I graded all my students, and Morgan Howe absolutely was failing each and every single course! I can show you—”

Fingernails tapping on the screen, Lieutenant Anderson drawled lightly, “Yeah, that won’t be necessary at all, Nines; these grades have been updated to just a few nights ago, in fact, and Morgan’s grades are good!” Wagging his finger at the android, he added, “But I suppose you’d do _anything_ to not only try and worm your way outta this mess, but you’d also do the injustice of putting Morgan down and draggin’ him in the dirt with yourself, huh?”

Sputtering in disbelief, Nines cried out in shock, “Updated?! _Updated?!_ ” Slamming a hand down on his own sternum, he crowed, “I am the one who updates them!! It would take weeks for a new professor to even be handed out privileges such as moderating the grades and entering them into the system!!”

Lieutenant Anderson shrugged. “So?”

“So, I wasn’t the one who adjusted the grades that way!” Nines bellowed, “I didn’t do that!”

Rolling his eyes, the exhausted man sighed, “So you’re tellin’ me that someone hacked into your account and changed the grades overnight like magic, huh??”

Fumbling for an answer, Nines decided to go along with that. “Look, Lieutenant,” he began sternly, “I know it sounds absolutely crazy! I’m not arguing against that! However, a lot of strange things have been occurring around that damn app! First with my chats to Morgan Howe, and now this!!”

It wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities. Surely this man knew it, as Nines supposed already that he’d had a long chat with Dean Fowler. The other man of course had to have updated the snoopy Lieutenant about everything, and Nines was going to remain dedicated to his own defense regardless of how oddly it all came out, and regardless of the fact that he didn’t have proof of his innocence…for now.

Scratching his head, the Lieutenant weakly threw back, “This is all a huge bunch of horseshit, Nines, that’s what I think about it all.” Straightening his clothes, he looked down upon the android in spite of being a tad shorter. It was all now about emotions and psychological standing, and from where Lieutenant Hank Anderson stood, Nines knew he had the power; he had the authority. 

Wielding it all to his benefit, the senior human continued without a shred of doubt coloring his words. “Nines, _no one_ hacked into your app. This is all a part of your own imagination, and right now, it’s all lookin’ quite bad for you, I’m sorry to say.” Sighing, the man pinched and massaged the bridge of his nose tightly. “You’re caught, and rather than coming with me quietly and surrendering so you can confess, you’re still fighting this?!” Throwing his hands up in the air, he asked softly, “Why? Why’re you doin’ this to yourself for?”

Motioning him over with a finger, Nines remained quiet until Lieutenant Anderson followed his beckoning finger. The man’s boots scraped along the carpeted floor of the office, each one dragging louder than the other. His eyes were set on Nines’, and as he drew closer and closer, his sneer grew harsher and more profound. He stopped when his boots almost knocked into Nines’ dress shoes. Now that the two men were inches apart, Lieutenant Anderson became aware of his standing and height, but he didn’t dare back down. Boldly, he crossed his arms over his chest, and he held his head firmly and high. An almost ‘godly’ air and attitude swarmed and spun around him, and Nines wanted nothing more than to be the one to knock it down. That would indeed give him pleasure; to prove this man wrong once and for all.

When he was certain the older man was listening intently, he clearly and perfectly enunciated, “I’m. Not. Crazy.”

Something snapped and broke in Lieutenant Anderson’s old, sagacious eyes. For a moment, Nines considered the fact that he may have gotten through to the older citizen, but he wasn’t going to hold out hope in that matter just yet without evidence. This was a man dead-set and stuck in his ways, and there wasn’t much he could do to change that. Understanding that it would take all the proof in the world until this man changed his mind about his guilt, Nines remained glaring angrily and strongly before the older male.

After the tension in the room had mounted considerably, Nines was able to see the Lieutenant drawing in breath. His nostrils flared slightly, and his chest rose. In one single breath, he softly asked in a voice not much higher than a whisper.

“Nines, what made you quit being a psychiatrist?”

….

The question was as deadly as ever. Feeling as though a harpoon had been lanced and pierced directly through his thirium pump, Nines reeled. Steadying himself carefully by reaching back and planting both hands on the rough surface of his desk, he wheezed out nothing but gibberish.

_He knows?! He knows about by past?! HOW?! HOW DOES HE KNOW?!_

Alarm bells blared on in his mind, and every bit of self-assurance and self-confidence he’d once held for himself suddenly drifted away into the furthest recesses of his mind.

Knowing he’d hooked a fish, the foxy Lieutenant’s eyes widened as he continuously observed Nines’ reactions. Not giving up, he cast his net and trap out further. “Yes, I already know about your past, Nines,” he almost purred ecstatically. “I know you were a highly renowned psychiatrist in Scotland, and I know that a lot of people admired your work…”

Holding onto his head as though it would pop off his neck and roll away from himself, Nines could only pant and wheeze painfully, even though he actually felt no physical pain at all. It was this man’s words that would no doubt be his own undoing, and there was nothing the powerless android could do to stop this. It was set in motion, now, and he was losing it all.

_Stop…stop…please…leave me alone!!!_

Ignoring his imminent freak out, the Lieutenant doggedly pursued his mark. “I read the papers from Scotland that year, Nines,” his voice called out, seemingly so far away, yet so close that it was deafening. “I know what happened to you, Nines, and I’m very sorry for that tragedy.”

Shaking his head, Nines could only seethe and whine like a caged animal. Internally, he was on fire, but he was truly trapped within his own misery, the ghosts of his past, and his bleak, hellish promise of a future. What was he to do?!

_No! No! No!! Stop it! Go away!!_

He couldn’t even illustrate and compose his warnings and pleas to the old Lieutenant, and Nines ended up hating himself more for this. How weak was he?!

Holding a hand over his shoulder, Lieutenant Anderson murmured hauntingly in his audio receptors, “One of your patients attacked you and then killed themselves in your office, didn’t they, Nines? That’s why you quit…” Sticking to that final conclusion, the dogged Lieutenant concluded, “Your patient attacked you, Nines, and I’d like to know why.”

To remember…to remember would be to bring about every bit of pain and suffering he’d been trying so hard and for so long to forget…no…no…

Whirling around, Nines roared like a wild beast, “NOOOO!!!”

Before the angry Lieutenant could leap at Nines, the office door banged open. Both men gaped at the open doorway, and as Nines’ LED light switched from red to yellow, he found another LED light beaming forth like a ray of hope from a savior.

It was Connor!!

Relieved at once, Nines broke away from Lieutenant Anderson, and he practically flew over to where Connor was standing. The RK800 raced towards him, and both androids met each other halfway.

Bangs flying back, Connor rasped, “Nines! Are you alright?! I heard loud shouting!!”

Sighing, Nines cursed himself for losing control. Managing a nod in Connor’s direction, he answered swiftly, “I’m fine, Connor. The conversation I was having just turned a little…” Pausing, he glared over his shoulder at Lieutenant Anderson, eyes gleaming minaciously.

“…Well, it was all a little emotional, that’s all, but I assure you, I’m fine.”

Believing him, a more convinced and laid-back Connor strode past Nines. Eyes already suspicious as well as curious, he sneered at the older male in the room. “Nines, who’s this?!”

Right away, Lieutenant Anderson grabbed his I.D. badge, and he revealed it before Connor proudly. “Lieutenant Hank Anderson,” he introduced himself, “I’ve worked for the Detroit Police Department for almost two full decades, kid.” Lowering his hand, he snapped, “And just _who_ are you?”

Ignoring the question, Connor poked a strong finger into the old man’s sternum. Lieutenant Anderson was shoved back because of it, but he wasn’t doing much to fight Connor’s minor assault off, surprisingly.

LED light now redder than an apple, Connor picked on the Lieutenant harshly. Looming over him since he was as tall as Nines, he yelled out angrily, “You shouldn’t be here! Nines isn’t guilty, and he hasn’t done anything!!” Pointing out the door he’d burst into the room from, he roared mightily, “Get out!!”

Pushing down his arm, Nines hissed softly, “Connor, please don’t make such a racket!” He couldn’t afford the entire psychology department walking in here, next!!

Arguing vehemently and stubbornly, Connor barked out aggressively, “I don’t care who hears! Let them!” Pointing again at Lieutenant Anderson, he screamed viciously, “Go away!! Nines is innocent!!”

Strangely, instead of getting just as irate and responding in quite the vitriolic manner, the old Lieutenant stood back and merely observed Connor. His wise eyes twinkled with an age-old wisdom churning about in them, and just when Nines felt this man was going to lash out at them both with his own aggressive insults, Lieutenant Anderson did something quite unusual and quite unexpected…

Ever so slowly, a smile formed onto his face. Where his eyes and overall demeanor at first when he’d introduced himself to Nines and walked into his office had been sullen, foreboding, gloomy, and held an over-all sense of brooding, now, he seemed ‘alert’, but in an ardent, passionate way…if Nines had to wager, due to Lieutenant Anderson’s body posture remaining more relaxed, more open, more laid back, and due to the way his cheeks glowed with a rosy hue, all the signs were present to suggest that this odd Lieutenant had taken an interest in Connor.

Connor didn’t seem to notice it much, however. Remaining stuck in his bold and aggressive defense, he paced closer to the Lieutenant. Now that they were practically nose to nose, Lieutenant Anderson smiled even wider.

Irritated beyond imagination, Connor hissed angrily, “Don’t smile at me!! You tell me right now what you want from us before I—”

The interruption had arrived and been formed when Lieutenant Anderson raised a hand and offered it to Connor. Of course, he’d done the same when he’d tried introducing himself to Nines, but that had been quite brief. This time around with Connor, the older male looked beyond ecstatic and overjoyed, and he almost pushed his hand into Connor’s eagerly.

As they shook hands, with Lieutenant Anderson more so leading the way, the older man beamed brighter than ever in spite of nearly starting quite the intense argument with Nines. “Hey there,” he began, and the way his tone, gestures, as well as emotions radiating forth nearly caused Nines to roll his eyes pathetically.

Well, this _certainly was_ pathetic. Anyone with half a brain in their skull would be able to notice the dramatic shift in Lieutenant Anderson’s behavior the moment Connor had barged into the office. Gone was the ‘Lieutenant’, the officer, and instead, the man that had replaced him was more or less akin to a youngster with a damn crush trying to make the best first impression.

Vomit inducing, really.

A goofy smirk plastered Lieutenant Anderson’s face, and as Connor glared down at their conjoined hands still shaking together, he gasped brokenly, “H-hey! Stop!”

His words flew over Lieutenant Anderson’s head completely. Grasping Connor closer, the older man practically purred delightfully. “May I ask your name?”

“Err,” Connor’s LED light flickered to yellow, and as he pondered it for a moment, he eventually threw out messily, “I’m C-Connor…”

Eyebrows flew up, and Lieutenant Anderson hummed pleasantly. “Connor? I’m ravenous, Connor,” he sighed before adding smoothly, “I’m Hank.”

Nines’ jaw dropped. _Hank?! HANK!?!?!_ He certainly hadn’t introduced himself to Nines on a first-name basis!! This had to mean that Hank Anderson was already beyond smitten with Connor…or so Nines assumed, anyway. Time would tell, but he didn’t have much of it at the moment; not if he wanted to finish up with his planned activities and get back to his apartment. Today was a Wednesday, and that meant that Gavin’s classes would end before 1 p.m. Nines had to hurry back to his apartment. He already had a hunch that Gavin was going to return, and he didn’t want the strange young man snooping around and causing more problems. If he got evicted from his apartment, or worse, if Carl Manfred-one of his remaining friends-doubted him, as well, then he’d be truly thrown to the sharks.

Eyeing how sensually Lieutenant Anderson was stroking Connor’s arm as he leaned into the tall android, Nines grunted in pure disgust.

Connor swallowed thickly as Lieutenant Anderson drawled deeply with a thick smile, “Would you like to chat for a bit, Connor?” Motioning at his phone, he supplied, “I could kill an hour, here…”

“Umm…”

Before the android could even look back at Nines, the RK900 shoved him roughly in the center of the back towards the smitten Lieutenant. “Sounds like an ideal opportunity has struck for you both!” He cheered loudly, “But as much as I’d like to stick around, I’m afraid I have something urgent to attend to.”

Lunging after him, a frenzied and fearful look appeared in Connor’s dark brown eyes. “No!! Nines!!” he cried out in raw desperation, “don’t leave me here alone with him!!”

Mind already made up, Nines hurried along, but he frowned as he barked out, “We need to talk later anyway, Connor…” When the RK800 eyed him in weary confusion, he added, “I need for you to explain the most recent assignment you gave out to your _Alternative Music History_ class!!”

Snapping out of his reverie for a moment, Lieutenant Anderson pointed at Nines thickly while growling out, “Don’t think I’m done with you yet, Nines! That’ll be all the questions for now, but I—”

Already halfway out the door, Nines called back, “Yeah, yeah, you’ll be returning for further questioning, Lieutenant.” Pausing, he turned himself around, saluted the shocked Lieutenant, and then gathered his boxes to leave.

Connor and Hank Anderson stood side-by-side, curiously staring past the open door in the direction Nines had swiftly disappeared in. Though they remained silent for a few moments, listening to the odd humming emanating from the building’s pipes and vents, Hank Anderson soon snapped out of it again, and he turned to grin at Connor.

Watching him out of the corners of his eyes, Connor slowly swiveled his neck around, and he observed Lieutenant Hank Anderson blankly. When the older man didn’t talk for a few seconds, Connor clipped out moodily, “What?”

The familiar twinkle returned to Lieutenant Anderson’s eyes, and he chuckled deeply in his chest. The thrumming of the vibrations caused Connor to shiver with anticipation, but exactly what he was anticipating was unknown to him.

Licking his lips, Hank Anderson sensually and suggestively inquired, “So, you seein’ anyone at the moment?”

~--~^~--~^~--~

“For once in my pathetic, measly excuse for an existence, I was hoping I’d be proven wrong, Mr. Reed.”

The moment Nines managed to catch a bus, hurry on down the street, fly up the stairs, and burst through his apartment door, he found that Gavin had already made himself ‘at home’ and quite comfortable. Not needing a damn invitation in the slightest, the rude young man had snuck in through an open kitchen window. He’d gone through the efforts of climbing up the building by using the drain pipe, and he’d peeked in through windows until he located Nines’ apartment. All semblances of manners and proper etiquette had been long forgotten with Gavin Reed. The boy was a damn nuisance, and he relentlessly refused to leave, even after Nines had insulted him, grabbed his clothes and other various items and cast them out the door.

The frustrated android’s efforts were all for naught when Gavin stomped a foot down and bellowed aggressively, “I’m staying with you, Nines, and there’s _nothing_ you can do to change my mind!!”

If it was a challenge Gavin Reed wanted, Nines accepted. Unfortunately, he had _no_ idea what he was in for.

Gavin Reed was fully importunate and highly assertive. He didn’t respond well to physical force, either, and when Nines reached out to grab his arms and yank him off his sofa, Gavin feigned being lost to a powerful sexual orgasm of sorts. He lay there limply, moaning and panting out Nines’ name. The android had to let go of him, fearful of the noises Gavin was creating. They certainly didn’t need an audience.

Ignoring hadn’t proven to be useful in removing Gavin Reed from his apartment, either. At first, Nines paced about, deciding to go about his regular day as best as he could…minus the fact that Gavin was there. He ignored the youth for about half an hour before Gavin showed signs that it was affecting him greatly. Running out of patience all too quickly, Gavin randomly tried asking Nines questions, ever so eager to start up a conversation. He was ignored, and he soon took to more ‘aggressive’ and drastic measures. Going through the cycles like a brat, he made more noise, he threatened to damage things, he said he was going to light everything on fire. None of it worked, however. Everything that came out of his mouth bounced off Nines as though it were white noise in the air. Nines didn’t even react when Gavin said he was going to ‘fuck himself with a knife, record it, and post it on Youtube’.

He had to work hard at keeping himself aloof, detached, and removed. It was all for the price of his own comfort and solitude, and he was willing to put up with it…or so he thought incorrectly, yet again. Nines could’ve anticipated and predicted some resistance in regards to his ‘cold shoulder’ technique, but he hadn’t been able to predict that Gavin would threaten to harm himself.

Claiming that he wasn’t bluffing, Gavin tore away into the kitchen, fishing out a long black knife and holding the sharp blade to his throat. Now, this was beyond serious, and Nines started talking.

Holding up his hands, he carefully approached the explosive youth. “Put that down, Gavin, and come here so we can talk…”

“Ooooh,” the young adolescent jeered sarcastically, “ _now_ you wanna chat?! Now that I’m threatenin’ to kill myself you’re talkin’, but before, taking like five minutes out of your day for me would’ve been a damn crime, huh?” He hadn’t lowered the pointy, sharp knife from his skin, and this amped up Nines’ growing fears.

Keeping his voice low, he instructed calmly, “Gavin, I don’t want you to hurt yourself!”

Hissing, Gavin prodded the knife into his neck, but not to the point where he could draw blood. “Take ONE fuckin’ step and I’ll slice my carotids! Go ahead!!”

Well…he had to give points and credit where credit was due; Gavin was certainly intimidating and scary enough to make a damn point when he needed to. Even though he was still quite pale and thin, his eyes promised suicide and harm, and his almost skeletal features made it so that his shadow cast along the walls looked menacing and tall. However, at this rate, Nines had already anticipated and sensed that the adolescent wasn’t kidding. In his high-strung state, Nines wasn’t going to risk it. He’d had plenty of patients who’d behaved in the same way, and most of them regularly self-harmed.

Searching through his mind quickly, Nines raised his head and cried out boldly, “If you love me, please put that knife down, and come to me!!”

That had been the break in the spell; the knife was thrown to the floor in a second as Gavin released it. Heart beating quickly, his shoulders bunched up, his eyes turned red, and he sniffled like a little lost boy. Chin quivering, he mumbled something out that Nines was unable to decipher, but it didn’t matter when he was already running at the android.

Gavin sobbed hysterically as he threw himself directly on top of Nines, face buried in his expensive, freshly washed shirt. Nines groaned in sheer misery when he felt and witnessed the salty tears and bits of snot dripping from the human’s eyes and nose over onto the clean fabric of his shirt…well, the ‘once’ clean fabric, now.

Struggling to fight the youth off himself, Nines roared wildly, “Get off me this instant, Reed! And use a god damn tissue to wipe your face!!”

Sobbing even louder, Gavin bemoaned, “I decided to head into a _Fabric Land_ store, got a giant piece of ugly brown fabric, I then installed a jacuzzi!” Rocking on his feet, he wailed, “I made the whole thing into a crane origami, I boarded it and flew to France!” Grabbing Nines’ face in both hands, he yanked the android down to peer into his eyes.

Once they were eye level, Nines froze. He could do nothing but freeze while Gavin’s tears streamed down freely, and he gasped out in a dreamy manner, “And suddenly…everything was right with the world!!”

Not sure of what to make of that bizarre declaration, Nines only seethed in anger and confusion as he pushed Gavin way from himself. Eyeing him wearily, he pressed out uncomfortably, “Reed, would you cease communicating with me in such nonsensical ways for _just once_?!”

The younger man hadn’t heard him. Instead, he bowed his head down and sobbed even more profusely while lost to his insane ramblings.

“During puberty, I experimented with the things that we all do; horniness, streaks, sadness, and wearing two metric tons of fabric around my head causing me to ascend into a low-flying orbit after I inadvertently got caught in the back wind of an airplane engine!!” Shaking Nines wildly without abandon, he screamed, “I WANT THE DAY TO ARRIVE WHERE A LIVING ORGANISM ASIDE FROM A GIANT, MENACING, ANTHROPOMORPHIC AVOCADO THAT ASKS FOR MY HAND IN MARRIAGE TAKES ME LIKE THE FLESH MAIDEN I AM!!”

Glaring out his kitchen window, Nines saw what he’d never in a million years wanted to see; his neighbors and a lot of joggers and cyclists moving by outside had no doubt heard the commotion coming from inside the apartment. To a third-party spectator, of course it would appear as though someone were being slaughtered mercilessly. Judging by the way Gavin was still incessantly screaming, the police would soon be called…unless Nines did something about it…

At first, he’d wanted to leap at the youth and slam a hand down over his mouth. Unfortunately, time was short, and Nines saw many citizens lingering outside watching closely. If he even grabbed Gavin in the wrong way, a tiny phone call would make the difference between hell and freedom for him.

_I don’t need more trouble…I can’t afford it anymore…fuck it._

Nines had no idea what in blazes had possessed him to reach out to Gavin and grip his cheeks in both hands, but he did it anyway. The android had no clue at all what enabled him to press a leg forward, wrap it around Gavin’s, and he certainly couldn’t fathom why he’d crushed the youth’s pliant, slender body to his own. But it had indeed happened, and in the split second it took for Nines to ask for forgiveness somewhere in the back of his mind, his lips descended quickly on Gavin’s. The youth’s screams had been muffled, and they died down immediately. Relaxing significantly into Nines’ arms, Gavin hung there in shock. After a moment, however, he nuzzled against Nines and clung onto him. His thin arms wrapped around the back of the android’s neck, and he purred in sheer rapture and delight while Nines just awkwardly pressed their lips together.

 _What the hell am I even doing?_ He asked himself in his dark thoughts. This was one of the weirdest exchanges, physically, and as he glanced past Gavin and out the window, Nines could confirm how odd this truly was. Majority of his neighbors and the other spectators thankfully inched away, however, no doubt not wanting to get an eyeful of two lovers beginning an act of intimacy. They soon dispersed with red faces, hurrying along until they were mere dots in the distance like ants wavering along the horizon.

Excellent.

Breaking the kiss before Gavin could get other strange ideas, Nines watched the young man wipe his lips with his hands. In turn, the android’s tongue flicked out, and he immediately wished it hadn’t. Once he moved his tongue along the wet seam of his lips, he was able to sample and learn everything about Gavin Reed. He could taste orange juice on the young man’s lips, a hint of grapes, though artificial, no doubt due to his makeup. He sensed anger, he tasted a dash of regret, and arousal.

Lovely.

While he tried composing himself, Nines faintly whispered, “I apologize for that, Reed…I don’t know what came over me.”

A dopey grin found its way onto Gavin’s face right away. “That’s okay, sir,” he purred, hands sliding up along Nines’ body sensually. “But I don’t think that counts…”

Confused, Nines tilted his head down and repeated, “Counts? Counts for what?”

“For this.” Immediately, Gavin threw himself on top of Nines. Lips and teeth clamped down over Nines’ mouth. Startled, the android tried fighting Gavin off, but the youth was shockingly fast. He’d already forced Nines’ lips apart with his tongue, and he dove inside the warm mouth with an exploring tongue. Those tongues met, and Nines was furious. Gavin’s touches were lewd, wanton, perverted, and overpowering. His tongue coiled and wrapped around Nines’ own, and then Gavin tried sucking his lower lip…

Emitting a roar that broke the sound barrier of the peaceful summery afternoon, Nines threw Gavin off himself mightily. Before Gavin’s head could knock against a wall, Nines snatched the young male’s shirt in a hand, and tugged him back towards himself. Their chests slammed and bashed together, and Gavin wheezed when the wind had clearly been knocked out of him.

Bearing down on him harshly, Nines pinned him against a wall by bracing two large hands on either side of his head. “Don’t you _ever_ do that again, Reed! What the hell’s going on with you?!”

Shrugging, Gavin caught his breath as he replied snobbishly with, “Relax! It’s not like I took your virginity.”

Growling, Nines pounded his fists against the wall. “Reed! I’m serious!!”

Eyebrows raised, Gavin asked, “Are you offering it, though?”

Thrown off for a moment, Nines snapped, “Offering what?”

“Your virginity?”

This time, Nines reached back and gently knocked Gavin on top of the skull. It wasn’t done with enough pressure to cause him actual harm or damage, but it rendered him silent for a moment.

Nodding, Nines spat, “Good. Perhaps that’ll calm you down.”

Whimpering while he rubbed his head, Gavin raised his arms, and he murmured brokenly. “Niiiines, please hold meeee…”

Not wanting to argue, Nines allowed Gavin to wrap his arms around his torso. Peeking down, he kicked the dangerous knife still on the floor as far away as he could. Gavin’s sniffles and whimpers grew softer, thankfully, clearly indicating that the young man was calming himself down. Wearily, Nines sighed as he just stood there with his long arms dangling down at his sides. He too was at a loss for words.

Still sniffling gently, Gavin grabbed Nines’ hands. “Here,” he weakly offered, “hold me, too.”

Not fighting back, Nines closed his eyes once his arms fit perfectly around Gavin. Instinctively, Gavin ground his hips into Nines’, and the android hissed a warning. “Don’t try anything, Reed,” he growled, eyes flashing red like his LED light. “If you—”

“Shhh,” Gavin hummed, “this is therapeutic for me.”

“It’s not for me!” Nines cried angrily. He wasn’t even lying. Aside from Gavin’s cock driving forth into his hip awkwardly, Nines’ protests died on his lips. The throbbing erection poking and prodding him wasn’t the major issue at all when Gavin clung to him tightly. Gavin’s own body was.

Gavin truly felt like a skeleton. His rib cage practically rubbed against Nines, poking and jabbing at his bio-components. His hair felt scratchy and dry, almost artificial like a doll’s. His breaths could hardly be heard or felt, and Nines felt how sunken-in Gavin’s stomach was. If he added even the smallest amount of pressure to the young man, Nines was certain he would snap in half.

Feeling disgusted, Nines allowed that mood to wash over himself. He hadn’t removed his hands from about Gavin’s body. His mind was already working, and as they stood there in the kitchen, Nines felt the planet spinning slowly. Mind flying through his thoughts on overdrive, the decision had already been made before Nines had time to understand ‘how’, and ‘why’.

Shutting his eyes tightly, he gasped out in a hoarse tone, “Are you here for the ‘talking cure’, Reed?”


	8. When Losing it All

Nines had reached a point in his life where he knew he had to take a rather large risk. This risk weighed greatly on his mind for an hour after he’d calmed the weeping mess that was Gavin Reed down. Hastily, he’d prepared his ‘guest’ a supper of onion and chicken broth soup, and the moment Gavin sat down to dine, Nines was lost to his thoughts. What he’d been planning and set on doing was quite out of the usual for himself to do, but Nines truly wanted to try something-even as eccentric and far-fetched as it may have initially been in theory. Perhaps in the eyes of his colleagues and other notable mental health workers, doing such a risky thing could’ve been regarded and deemed as ‘insane’. But to Nines, it was all he had left in the world of options, and no matter how insane it was, he had to give it a chance.

He wanted to open up the doors for therapy and investigation. The subject of his investigation: Gavin Reed. They’d reached an agreement; Gavin was allowed to stay for a week, but only if the younger man allowed Nines to ‘pry and poke’ into his brain. Nines was taking a huge risk with Gavin, but he was beyond aware of that. Opening a door that he’d once shut and locked tightly with the thickest chains of his mind was absolutely frightening and riveting. He was going to be not only opening up a world of concealed darkness, but Nines wasn’t sure what else he was going to bring out from the other side. It’d been years since he’d opened up to another soul, and the android often despised notions of fear. More than anything, however, he feared the unknown. What he couldn’t accurately calculate, measure, analyze, and predict, he absolutely abhorred.

This would for sure be one of them, but he felt he was ready to take that step. Perhaps walking side-by-side with Gavin Reed wouldn’t make for a detrimental journey entirely. After all, they were in this somewhat together like business partners. They would both be gaining something from this. Gavin had a home-at least on a temporary basis-and Nines would be able to understand someone new.

But why did he want to understand Gavin Reed?? Was it because he reminded Nines of himself? Of someone he’d lost or loved?

No…not entirely, anyway.

Gavin washed and put away his soup bowl and utensils before making his way into the living room as Nines had instructed. The android assumed his age-old ‘therapist’ position that entailed sitting down on a stool right across from his ‘patient’. But when had they exactly set out and finalized this contract?? When had they labeled themselves to fit and adapt to such roles?

Nines honestly couldn’t tell. In the past, he’d been so used to slipping into the role of a therapist, that even pausing to ponder it now was futile. It was simply unknown and foreign to his mind. He’d never thought of it; he just _did it_. He usually held mediocre views and judgements whenever he looked across from his chair and eyed a patient. It didn’t matter what ailed them. Schizophrenia, hysteria, borderline personality disorder, manic depression, eating disorders…people were more than their problems, but he’d never trusted a patient enough to allow for a ‘bond’ to be established between them as ‘doctor and patient’. Nines had kept people at a great distance for quite some time, but he always had good enough reasons to.

Humans were fragile, unpredictable, and quite messy. A ball of emotions, a bundle of nerves, flesh drawn over muscle and fragments of bone that held up a foundation. Sometimes, the brain chemistry was problematic. Other times, the wiring had been set to fail since conception. DNA, genes; anything hereditary that he didn’t care enough to understand mainly because he never had a reason to…

….

Until he was attacked.

A thing of the past, it was. Why did he need to think of it at all? Digging into the past was pointless, unless it would act as a mechanism to save him in the future. From what he gathered, this was one of the only methods. To navigate towards the future, he had to understand the present, and then pick up the pieces he’d left behind in the past.

To slip into a role he’d assumed once years ago was rather terrifying for him to even think about. Donning the mask of the therapist may have been easy to do…once upon a time. Things had changed, however. Times were different. Perhaps his skills were lacking…badly. Could he assume this role once again in the hopes that his effort would wield success?

_I won’t know until I try…_

He had to put trust in both Gavin and himself, but this was the painful part. Nines had long since ceased trusting himself. What was there to trust in after all that had happened, anyway? The scars ran too deeply, the memories were too painful to think on.

But it _had_ to be done. If not for Gavin and the purposes of ‘curing him’, then at least for the last shred of his own sanity. Wielding the blades of introspection would perhaps save Nines from himself…the darkness of the shadows of his past and the demons lurking within it needed to be eradicated once and for all. To understand what was currently happening to him was essential to move on and prepare for battle. However, to understand what was distressing him presently, he knew he would have to study what had afflicted him in the past. Offering himself up on an ‘examination table’ and a magnifying glass of sorts was horrifying enough. He sensed and assumed that by leaving himself open to anyone, he would be running the risk of allowing the skeletons in his closet to reveal themselves all too boldly.

Studying Gavin seated before himself on his living room sofa, he had to mentally take a moment just to prepare. More than anything else, he was allowing Gavin the chance to back out of this…Nines hoped he would.

“Can you handle this, Mr. Reed?”

Oh, how he wondered…

The adolescent wiggled his pink and blue painted toes, the shine and sheen of the nail polish beaming as brightly as the afternoon sun. Somewhere outside across the street, Nines heard an eager dog barking, and someone mowing their lawn. The tedious noises were soon drowned out by his inner musings and observations. Drawing his own conclusions about Gavin Reed had only been made possible and simple enough due to the odd mannerisms and clothes he wore. His face was completely absent of any makeup, but he wore a tight miniskirt, lime-green in color. On his upper torso, he’d changed into a pink spaghetti strap, the tone and shade matching that of every second toe on his feet apart from the blue.

Now that he’d observed him at face-value, Nines felt he had a better grasp on the situation; a gift he always knew he had to be able to focus on his environment and take hold of it.

This was _his_ world, and he’d merely invited Gavin Reed to be a part of it for a limited time.

Settling back on the stool, only a clear, glass table served as the barrier between former instructor and student. Nines was aware of their reflections gazing up at them in the clean glass as though inspecting the ‘quality’ and ‘nature’ as far as the ‘setting’ was concerned.

In the background all around them in the living room were exotic plants Nines had been trying to grow since they were seedlings. He’d even engaged in small pastimes such as carpentry, taking on small ‘projects’ he’d set for himself. His most recent ‘project’ included designing and crafting two large birdfeeders for the park lingering behind the apartment. Plenty of birds and woodland animals would no doubt appreciate it come winter…

Regardless, the other decorations such as drawings, puzzles lying about on table surfaces, psychology textbooks, as well as a few android spare parts packed in boxes stacked on top of each other lined up against the wall did nothing aside from loom in the background while Gavin and Nines were caught in the limelight.

So it appeared that the stage was set, then.

Crossing a long leg over the opposite one leaning and resting down on the soft, carpeted floor, Nines held a neutral face just as he’d been taught to do during any therapy session. The therapist could hold any set of personal assertions or judgements they wished, so long as they didn’t broadcast or advertise it all over their face.

Gavin licked his lips before settling back on the sofa and drawing a leg up just as Nines had. Clearly mimicking the therapist, Gavin’s state of dress unfortunately presented Nines with a clear view of his bare thighs, and a few private bits that were hardly covered due to the fact that the brazen youth was wearing a pink thong. To Nines’ sheer horror and surprise, Gavin had shaved not only the entire length of his thighs, but also his entire genitals.

Noticing where his terrified eyes fell, Gavin scoffed, “You’re looking again…”

Nodding slowly as if caught like a deer in headlights, Nines replied carefully, “Your current state of dress projects many things, you know.”

Rolling his eyes, Gavin commented acerbically, “Not like yours is any better.”

Staring down at the deep blue three-piece suit he was wearing, Nines frowned. “What’s the problem with how I’m dressing?” It was how he’d _always_ dressed for his job-both in University, but also during his therapy sessions. Professionalism was something he valued and prized highly, but since when did Gavin have an issue with it?

As if somehow reading through his mind, Gavin quipped, “Do you wear that stuff in your own home?”

Nines scowled even deeper. “Never mind what I do in my own home; this is what I’ve done for years regardless.” The leftover implications of that statement carried through to Gavin. Cleverly, the boy’s eyes shone as he let out a small gasp.

“You were an actual therapist?”

“A psychiatrist, yes,” Nines replied swiftly, though he still eyed Gavin’s clothes in a negative way. Whatever he had hoped for in Gavin Reed had died; this was by far one of his most difficult patients…

Trying not to start off on a pessimistic note, Nines added, “But we’re here for you, and as far as ‘homework’ is concerned, I would appreciate it if you could at least think on why you choose to dress the way you do.” Perhaps that would get the ball rolling as far away from himself being in the center of attention…or so he hoped, arrogantly.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Gavin bit back, “Come on, at least give me credit for not really pulling a ‘Catherine Tramell’!!” He ended it by tossing a playful wink in Nines’ way, and it wasn’t a gesture the android appreciated in the slightest.

Quirking an inquisitive brow, Nines orated softly, “ _Basic Instinct_ is a film, Mr. Reed; it is a work of _fiction_ , whereas this is real.”

Swinging his top leg crossed neatly over the lower one, Gavin sighed, “Oh yes, the thong string sliding up my ass-crack is enough to let me know of that.” As though trying to hammer that point even more clearly, Gavin swished and swayed his hips quite seductively for a few moments.

Ignoring that crudeness, an internally disgusted Nines took a moment to pause. Once calmer, he inquired, “Have you always been so careless around others in regards to your body?”

Smiling innocently, Gavin snipped shortly, “Depends.”

“On?”

Looking around the room, Gavin answered plainly, “On what we’re doing here.”

Of course, Nines knew the question would come up at one point or another. He’d prepared for it rather well due to the honestly lying in his motive. As such, it still was grating to hear how Gavin was already taking a bit of an aggressive lead in a realm Nines had once deemed his own.

Smoothly, he answered, “Therapy, Mr. Reed; this is therapy, something I feel you’ve needed for some time, now.”

Chuckling in phony amusement, Gavin’s leg kept swinging. A crude smile was instantly upon his face before he whispered, “I don’t need help.”

Eyeing him warily, Nines commented back snidely, “I digress; you indicated that you were going to harm yourself earlier in my kitchen on this very day. Needless to say, Mr. Reed, I take threats of suicide very seriously.”

As silly as it was to say out loud when they _both_ knew Gavin Reed wasn’t suicidal or depressed, Nines felt more annoyed with the fact that it was quite obvious that the young man was obstinate, and merely using threats of self-harm and suicide to get his attention. Not enjoying that he’d drawn this conclusion, Nines hoped somewhere in the odd fabric of the universe that for once, he was wrong…he would give _anything_ to be wrong…

Sliding a hand almost delicately in the air, Gavin continued to smile an auspicious smile before daintily raising a middle finger at a statue standing next to the left side of the sofa. “Therapy is so fucked up,” he began with an odd hint of anger and malice lingering in his tone. “I could tell you that this morning, instead of going to class, I assaulted my roommate, and this whole ‘doctor-patient confidentiality’ thing prevents you from reporting it, right?”

Begrudgingly, Nines only nodded.

Humming in a thrilled manner when he knew he was right, Gavin’s body posture shifted into a more confident and bolder one. Callously, he held his head up high, nose in the air before continuing with an air of attitude and arrogance Nines hadn’t yet seen him display. “On the other hand,” he purred, moving his hand into a clenched fist instead of flipping another piece of furniture off. “If I were to tell you right now that I want to maybe attack your neighbor or kill myself, then you have a duty to report it to the police, don’t you?”

His words had unfortunately incapacitated Nines’ insults. What was he to say? If he engaged in silly banter with the youth, he would lose. Gavin had been indeed correct, but in pointing out a fallacy of therapy even Nines himself didn’t understand but had to abide by, he’d gotten a leg up on the conversation. Perhaps a personal jab…revenge?

Deciding to go with this to ‘test’ the waters and limits, Nines fixed Gavin with a stern glare that didn’t give away too much. “Is that why you rejected my assumption based on the fact that you need help, and instead went ahead with a self-harm threat to gain my attention?”

While he tsked in disapproval, tongue clicking against his lower row of teeth, Gavin’s eyes gleamed like tiny stars. Licking his lips again, he let out an amused giggle. “You said you wanted me to drop the knife if I love you.”

Not needing the reminder, Nines cleared his throat, coughing into a clenched fist mildly while his LED light turned yellow. When the other side of the living had grown silent, he whispered, “Mr. Reed, therapy isn’t about love confessions.”

A frown suddenly graced Gavin’s facial features. Taken aback by what Nines had stated, he threw back mordantly, “I never consented to that, nor did I sign any forms.”

Skirting over the fact that they had to-at some point-discuss Gavin’s attention seeking habits in order to work on why he resorted to them, for now, Nines tucked that little thought away into the back of his mind while gazing intently at his new and only patient. “Clever lad,” Nines eventually spoke, drawing more interest in the youth’s shrewdness. Without a shred of doubt in his tone, he hissed, “You’ve done this before.”

Nodding his firm confirmation, Gavin drawled, “Had my ‘therapy’ virginity taken years ago…sorry if that bugs ya, but you’re not my first.” Again, his legs swung, and Gavin slightly curled his toes.

Humming gently, Nines felt mild irritation sweeping back into his system. Mostly frustrated by the fact that Gavin had turned everything he’d said into a perverted, sexual ‘game’ of sorts, he quickly shifted to address another pressing, urgent issue.

“What do you suppose we are doing here, Gavin?”

Bewildered, the young man snapped angrily, “I don’t know! Isn’t that like, _your_ job to know?!” Scratching his head, he sighed, “Therapist Nines isn’t fun Nines, sir.”

“This process is about growth,” Nines explained patiently while clasping his hands together. “I’m here to try and help you grow, Mr. Reed, like a green-fingered Derek Jarman.”

Glancing up at him in awe, Gavin rasped, “A green-fingered _who_?”

Nines huffed, “Derek Jarman! He was a queer Saint; a gay activist who liked to garden.” A smile graced his features as he hoped that this minor reference to human history within the LGBTQ community would strike a bond within Gavin.

Nodding slowly, Gavin hummed. Lips then formed in an ‘o’ shape, he breathed, “You mean like a gay Alan Titchmarsh?”

Nines nearly collapsed in disappointment. “No,” he sighed wearily, “not like a ‘gay Alan Titchmarsh.’” Draping his arms over his lap and stretching them out, he expounded, “He was an artist, a film-maker; a talented man who created a wonderful garden among a stony wilderness.” Truly, he was shocked that the young man sitting across from himself was a strong LGBTQ activist himself in the university, yet had never heard of Derek Jarman.

The information flew above and beyond Gavin’s head, and all he could do was shrug. “I…” he licked his lips yet again, and then started over weakly. “Soo…” he rasped, “…you’re honestly trying to help me?” Pointing at himself, he crowed, “I don’t think I need any help! I feel great!!”

They could reserve the judgements for later, Nines decided. For now, it was time to stop dancing around the topic of what was to be established here, what was going to transpire from now on, and what Nines could hope would help Gavin…perhaps. Embracing the therapy was the start, but to do that, they needed to give ‘life’ to the therapy session.

It had to be acknowledged as though it were a person in the flesh here with them.

Almost gazing into Gavin’s eyes fatuously, he thought on the situation, and he set aside his more deleterious worries. At least for now. Grinning, he drawled, “A verbal contract, then…” Drumming his finger incessantly along the length of his thighs, he nearly lost himself to the pattern he’d unintentionally set. Nines found it went along quite well with the sounds of monotonous, quotidian activities still carrying on outside.

_Tap, tap, thrum, thrum, tap, thrum, tap, tap…_

It rang about in his skull as if it were empty. He had to clear his mind, of course. A clear mind was as useful as a clean, clear sponge, ready to soak up all the inspiration. This was a new slate, but a slate with a hidden, invisible agenda attached to it. For a while, his eyes remained shut, and a large, magic eraser wiped away all the thoughts, questions, burdens, and pain.

Opening his eyes slowly when he felt it was time to do so, he took a second to wonder just when he’d closed them…time was fleeting, and he couldn’t feel a damn thing. Nothing came to mind…not a single memory…had the spell worked? Or was it thanks to his efforts?

…He wanted to forget…

Clearing his throat, then, he put on a dull smile. With his LED light spinning a bright shade of blue as lovely as the vast cerulean sky outside, he sat up to begin. The orchestra of the session had its conductor, its composer, and the musical composition floating about. He was now in charge. To be in charge felt so, _so_ good.

~--~^~--~^~--~

Markus shot up in mild shock when the door to his office squeaked open. Though it’d barely opened ajar, he already knew who his new visitor was. A reluctant visitor, no less, but he turned away from his tiny window to greet them politely.

“Simon.” The other android’s name had been uttered softly, so much that it caused the blonde to seize up halfway inside the small office.

LED light spinning uncontrollably from yellow to blue numerous times, the levels of anxiety steadily increased between the male androids. Though Simon sat down on the first seat neatly perched next to Markus’ desk, he didn’t leap at the opportunity to speak. Even Markus appeared to hold no desire for a competition to see who would speak up first. However, he offered the other man a decent enough smile that radiated warmth and respect.

Reciprocating it in kind, Simon sat in a more relaxed position. Eventually, he turned to gaze over his shoulder at the large door. Like magic, the seemingly bewitched object swung all the way shut with an audible ‘click’.

Gesturing with a head nod that could’ve been mistaken for a fatuous invitation, Markus beamed brightly at his silent companion. Nothing had still been uttered. Instead, it appeared that Markus was hellbent on observing and watching his guest in his office until he’d forcefully pulled a reaction out of him.

Shyly, Simon gazed at the floor and spoke to it rather than at Markus. A statement had soon been formed out of his mild discomfort. “How’s it going these days?”

Rolling his eyes back to peer out the window, Markus replied dully, “Another day like any, I suppose.”

Outside, members of Wayne State University’s football team were practicing and preparing for an exciting, upcoming new match. The flashing array of the colors on their uniforms breezed by the clean glass of the windows as light streamed in through partly open blinds. The jovial laughter and cheers of supportive spectators rang out from bleachers. Coaches whistled and barked out instruction while flocks of birds flew on above past fluffy white clouds.

A perfect day…perhaps. While everything remained in a peaceful, pleasant state outside, the air in the office grew stale, thick with tension, and almost smothering in nature. A stressful presence had mounted between both androids, causing them to peer away at the floor or at other objects instead.

Silence…how painful…how obnoxious in every way.

Mildly disgruntled, Simon chose to volunteer to take on the task of breaking the heavy, awkward silence. He was quite fed up with the amount of it after not spending many nights in Markus’ arms. If something had to be said, no was the time.

Sticking to his assertions and decisions, his eyes filled to the brim with hope, and he threw out tentatively, “Have you heard at all from the others?”

Ever so poised, Markus sat back in his large chair as he gave one head shake. “Afraid not, Simon.”

Nodding, plaintively, Simon tried again. “What about Nines?” he elucidated softly, “have you spoken to him?”

Upon hearing the other android’s name spoken, a small frown etched its way onto Markus’ handsome face. Following it was a moue of disgust, of which made the android appear ugly, suddenly. Tilting his head in a ‘chopped’, jerky motion, he spat out, “No. And I _don’t_ want to hear from him…ever.”

….

This time, enough had been said and plenty of messages had been communicated forth without Markus needing to dive into specifics. His stiff body posture presented enough. His red LED light set the stage for his true feelings, and the vicious glow in his odd colored eyes were responsible for saying and shouting plenty. The judgement had not only already been passed, but in a way, it was ‘finalized’. 

Face bland for half a minute, Simon quickly recovered from the initial ‘shock’ before he stated directly, “You think Nines did it.”

Not even hesitating, Markus gave a resolute nod. “I _know_ he did it, Simon.”

Gaping at his friend, Simon took his time, glancing up and down along Markus’ entire body. Not sure what he was looking for exactly, he frowned at the black running shoes fitting on perfect feet, black shorts, and a black workout top. Was he hearing things?! Had Markus really said what he thought he’d heard?

Gaping in shock, Simon recovered, ignoring how handsomely he thought Markus dressed. As lovely and shapely as he found the other male android to be, there wasn’t much that could prevent Simon from resorting to a look of unmitigated anger.

Releasing a strained cry, he concluded, “You _know_ he hurt Morgan?!”

Not treating it as a matter of debate, Markus croaked roughly, “All the evidence is there, Simon; you _must_ open your eyes to see it.” His angry, heated gazed told Simon that already, he so very much wanted for Nines to decry and atone for all his so-called ‘crimes’.

Chin quivering briefly, Simon regained composure before desperately panting out, “D-do you personally have some kind of proof here, Markus?”

“No,” Markus responded swiftly, “but it’s a matter of having my mind, eyes, and ears open.” He threw a rather sarcastic look at Simon for even daring to ask such a question he clearly didn’t enjoy answering.

Shaking his head in utter disbelief, the blonde-haired android choked on his next words. “H-how can y-you say that about one of our friends…” Stumbling over his next statement, he cried weakly, “Nines is our—”

Cutting in quickly and aggressively, Markus snapped, “Nines is _not_ one of _us_ , Simon!! You should really start seeing him for who he truly is…well, that is, if he allows you to.”

Offended to the highest degree, Simon screamed, “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It means you’re letting him make a fool out of you, Simon.” Sneering derisively, Markus pressed on, “You’re always sticking yourself to him, so I’m not really surprised he’s already convinced you so much of how perfect he is.”

Completely taken aback by what the android he admired and secretly was in love with was spewing, Simon’s angry glare fell away from his eyes. In defeat, his shoulders slumped forward, and his chest caved in. Boldness collapsing, he softly wheezed, “I’m sorry…maybe you’re right…”

Shrugging his bulky arms and broad frame, Markus openly commented, “I’m just saying that it’s time we examined things from a different perspective, Simon.”

Still wavering on the edge of ‘not entirely convinced’, the blonde inquired with an air of innocence, “What have North and Josh said about this?” Perhaps if their other friends listened to Markus as well, then it would all make more sense. Otherwise, something about all this felt so ‘wrong’ to Simon, and he couldn’t shrug off the guilt.

Turning his nose up snobbishly, Markus replied, “I’ve already had this same chat with Josh.” Beaming with all the confidence, Markus stated soundly, “Josh totally has changed his mind about Nines being innocent in this, so it’s only a matter of time before North stands with us as well.”

Mildly confused and thrown off by the last phrasing of words, Simon frowned deeply. Brows twisting and furrowing, he mulled it over in his head at first. When he’d been incapable of deciphering it for himself, he sat up, ever so eager to seek the answers to his burning questions from Markus.

“Stands with us?” Eyes narrowing as his body posture opened up, he dug deeper. “Stands with us in what, Markus?”

LED light bouncing between yellow and red, Markus’ emotions battled deeply within himself for some time. His face morphed back and forth into pained, conflicted, hateful, and angry expressions. Then, ever so slowly, as his LED light color settled on a violent red, he revealed a row of perfectly pearl-white teeth.

Almost maniacally, he whispered mysteriously to his only listener. “North and Josh will stand with us to bring Nines down, Simon…we _have_ to make him answer to this; he’s _got_ to speak up instead of fighting and hiding away like a damn coward!”

Sputtering in his baffled state, no coherent words came from Simon in over a minute. He was completely inundated by the essence of raw power emanating forth from Markus. The larger, taller android practically smothered Simon in his confusion, seizing the opportunity to take the lead where Simon had seemingly fallen.

Almost snidely, Markus leaned forward in his chair until the tips of their noses practically kissed.

Mismatched eyes bearing down into Simon’s, a cold sneer smothered and effectively squashed anything else the passive blonde could’ve wanted to say, or even thought about saying.

“Will you stand with us too, Simon?”

~--~^~--~^~--~

“I mean, sometimes we take _soooo_ much for granted!” The hot-headed youth spouted, “Sometimes, it’s easy to look at the phenomenal beauty in life and think: ‘there must be a social worker looking for her!’”

Cringing, Nines murmured, “Scattered thoughts, Mr. Reed; I don’t understand.”

Placing a hand over his forehead, Gavin droned mindlessly, “It’s okay; I love having problems. I have about as many of them as a retired school principal does.”

Patience wearing thin, Nines thought back to the horrible incident that involved Gavin Reed supposedly wanting to harm himself. Though it’d turned out to be nothing more than a joke, a ruse, and a fluke at getting his attention, Nines didn’t appreciate it one bit. He’d dealt with his fair share of legitimately suicidal patients, and when Gavin had turned out to be using that towards his own advantage, Nines felt nothing short of disgust. To play on a horribly serious mental health issue like that was unbecoming of anyone, and in Nines’ own personal opinion, it was downright sociopathic.

Nose turned up in the air like a knife, Nines gloated in his self-righteousness and superiority. At least _he_ didn’t have to resort to using such lowly, despicable tactics in order to gain someone’s attention. That alone was quite rewarding for himself, and he felt he’d gained plenty of levity aside from the other troubles that lay waiting for him. They’d all suddenly faded into the background, now.

Gavin appeared to be seething once he caught the raw look of arrogance emanating from Nines. It hit the youth square in the chest, and he reeled back from it instantly. In turn, that only made Nines angrier.

“What?” he rasped, unable to keep himself from baiting the younger male. Moved and motivated by sheer contempt, Nines felt abject disdain once he’d confirmed that Gavin didn’t quite care nearly enough about serious and dangerous topics and happenings in mental and social health. The boy lacked awareness for others, and that disturbed Nines more than anything else.

What else was Gavin Reed capable of?

Staying true to his liberties and old passions for righting the ‘wrongs’ of mankind, Nines took to treating Gavin as if he were a nasty criminal. Speaking to him rather harshly, he spat, “Are you going to grace me with another ‘suicide attempt’, now?” Huffing, he muttered in a conclusion, “I so am looking forward to that again.”

The words had at least hit home and affected Gavin. Face turning red slowly until it blossomed all the way down to his neck, his throat and temples tightened, the veins jutting out beneath the skin. His lips curled back over his teeth and gums, exposing his sharp teeth and giving him a feral look. Eyes narrowed in slits, he snapped viciously, “You’re cruel, Nines.”

Sitting forward, Nines stretched out his neck while retorting, “No, I’m not the one who’s being cruel; you’re being cruel. You’re the victim of your own autobiography, Gavin.”

Cheeks puffing out as they grew deep pink, Gavin muttered under his breath, “This would’ve never happened if you’d just let me drop out of school, and if I’d never met Morgan. Then, I could actually travel a bit instead of being stuck here doing whatever the hell _this_ is!”

Eyebrows quirked, Nines snorted, “What were you going to do? Discover yourself in the jungle like Prince Harry in Africa?”

Frowning, Gavin looked down as he answered solemnly, “No, I would’ve gone to Australia…”

“Australia?!” Nines barked in alarm, “apart from school or Morgan, it’s got its fair share of cunts there too, you know.”

Not taken aback by the harsh language in the slightest, Gavin chose to defend the topic of ‘Australia’. Eyes shining brightly, he sat up tall and appeared far more energetic now. “Think about it!” The opinionated young man chirped on, “its landscape, its lifestyle, its culture!! I would’ve been able to go outdoors more; not cooped up with a bunch of fuckin’ nerds and dick nuzzlers lactating all over psych textbooks!”

Letting out a strained sigh, Nines informed him, “Australia doesn’t have a culture; it’s a _wilderness_! It’s barren, it’s a desert! I’d rather hang myself than set foot in that dust bowl.” When Gavin only sat back in silence, posture clearly deflating, the android pressed on, “You could’ve gone to India or Borneo…or Kathmandu!! You’ve got _no_ imagination!”

While it felt ‘good’ for him to say that more as an insult under the guise of advising someone, Gavin didn’t appear to look ‘good’. Being on the receiving end of that, he sneered, folded his arms over his chest, and his body posture took on a more ‘rigid’ and ‘closed off’ stance.

Chin jutting out, he growled, “You’re blinded by your ugly cynicism.”

Nines shook his head stubbornly. “I have _no_ blind spots; I have _complete_ self-awareness.”

“Right,” Gavin chuckled sarcastically, “ _complete self-awareness_ my ass.”

“Mhm,” Nines nodded, choosing not to lash out yet in spite of his nerves feeling raw already.

Choosing a rebuttal quickly, Gavin sniped, “Well, if you were completely self-aware, you’d _be aware_ that Australia’s had an indigenous population for over forty-thousand years!! How can you say it’s culturally bankrupt?!”

Nines rolled his eyes. “I know that, Mr. Wikipedia!!” Shaking his head again, he explained on a short fuse, “Look, you would end up working for some rich white farmer with corks around his hat, slaving away for hours in the blasted heat your pretty skin wouldn’t be able to withstand, and then at the end of your holiday, you’d go on to Sydney and blow your miserable savings on all the cock you could get your greedy little hands on!”

When he was through with his rant, a stunned and saddened Gavin Reed’s eyes fell to the floor. As though ashamed with himself, he mused, “I just wanted to experience the wilderness.” In that moment, he sounded much like a child being scolded by an angry parent, and it instilled feelings of minor guilt and shock coursing through to Nines’ mind.

_How innocent and small he looks…but is this the face of a greatly skilled manipulator? Or is this a genuinely lost and troubled young soul?_

Sadly, he was unable to tell…he needed more time alone with Gavin, and Nines was both looking forward to that, but also dreading it. To go through this again would be as dangerous and as harmful as voluntarily sitting in an electric chair for execution!! But…he was curious…he couldn’t deny that. As he’d stated, Nines knew he didn’t have many blind spots. He’d long since learned to face his fears.

_All except for one…_

“Look,” Gavin interrupted with a bored sigh, much to Nines’ inner relief. “I’m just fed up with people mistreating me! Why’s that so bad?! Huh?” When the android threw an incredulous look his way, an irate Gavin screamed, “You would reject that, too!! Would _you_ be able to just sit there and pretend like it’s easy to have people calling you a bunch of names because you want to wear a skirt, stilettos, and wear makeup?!”

Silence rang about in the room, and it made the youth slap a hand down over his bare thigh.

“NO!! God damn it!!” Face full of anger, Gavin passionately assented, “I’m _not_ going to be so damn humble to let people just think they have the full right to moonwalk up and down my clit!!”

Wincing for half a second, Nines caught himself projecting and displaying far too much on his face. Aiming for professionalism and courtesy, he nodded once and composed himself as quickly as he could. “Mr. Reed,” he began in a soft-but-stern tone, “you seem to conveniently forget-many times, need I remind you-that you’re biologically a _male_ ; you don’t and can’t possibly possess a clitoris or any other bits of female genitalia, and making so many references to them is absurd.”

A cocky grin worked its way onto Gavin’s face right then. “I thought a lot of teachers agreed that we could be whatever we wanted to be, sir.”

The way the statement had come out in such an arrogant manner sent Nines seething. Not appreciating the strong levels of cockiness thrown his way, he held back on exploding in anger. He wasn’t going to give such a young thing that much power over his emotions. Not now, not ever. How weak that would be, indeed.

Steering away from the childish games, Nines glanced at a small digital clock resting on one black table next to the sofa. “I do believe that’s as far as we should go for today, Mr. Reed.” As he stood up and brushed his suit off, he glared down at Gavin. All too quickly, the youth had been in the process of checking his phone, and with a free hand, he picked at his nail polish on his toes.

Feeling disgust washing over himself, Nines hissed, “Don’t touch your damn feet!”

“I want to re-paint my nails anyway, relax,” Gavin threw back calmly, as if that would somehow appease Nines.

It didn’t.

Interestingly enough, Nines wandered over to Gavin’s side, but he made sure to keep his eyes off Gavin’s thighs and off his chest. He didn’t need the troubled, disturbed youth to get anymore ‘bright ideas’.

“What’re you doing?”

Gavin held out his phone, “Checked the news, and it’s bad…”

Frowning in mild concern, Nines sat down next to Gavin, though he ensured that he kept a ‘good enough’ amount of distance between their bodies. As the phone’s screen flashed, Gavin adjusted the volume, and it became apparent all too quickly that he’d been watching something.

Gazing at Nines in fury, Gavin protested vehemently, “I think that what Dean Fowler did was absolutely shitty…you sure you can handle lookin’ at this?”

Bracing himself, Nines nodded weakly in his direction, and then grabbed the phone.

~--~^~--~^~--~

Murphy’s law-an adage and epigram-typically stated: ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong’. Nines hadn’t ever truly believed in that, but now, it was quite realistic. After the therapy session with Gavin, since he’d already set his promise-and his grave, vicariously-Nines allowed Gavin to stay with him.

Loathing the fact that he had a ‘roommate’, now, Nines sat back and could only watch helplessly as Gavin created and baked his own homemade pizza. However, he turned it into pseudo-artistic ‘flop’ by adding onto it very bizarre ingredients. He placed tuna onto it, old spaghetti sauce, peach slices, pineapple bits, as well as a dash of ketchup. As it baked slowly in the oven, a most disgusting stench rose in the air. It was nothing short of foul, but Nines had bigger concerns.

Once Gavin finished his late supper, he dug out his nail polish and makeup kits, and he got to work removing the blue and pink color. Explaining vigorously that he wished to try green instead, he then rambled on and on while Nines sat in absolute shock.

But it wasn’t Gavin who had effectively shocked him; it was what he’d seen and learned of on the evening news. Sadly, as it’d turned out, Dean Fowler had hosted an interview with the police Chief of the Detroit Police Department. Right away at six in the evening, the burly head of Wayne State University held an exclusive interview, a speech already presented to reporters and the police chief for an hour. The interview ranged on and Dean Fowler answered many questions about the case in general, his staff, the history of the university, and what the future would hold.

It was a disaster. The crowds grew larger and larger, majority of them comprised of concerned parents, relatives, and friends shouting and demanding to know whether their loved ones and children were safe going to school. After, something of a bizarre ruckus occurred, steadily escalating when androids and humans faced off. Majority of the androids were a part of the teaching staff of Wayne State University, much to every human’s chagrin and despair. Venomous words and hateful stares shot out among the crowd. Security guards paced the outside perimeter of the university campus while Dean Fowler and the police chief held their interview inside.

It was nothing short of a smear campaign. Nines knew it very well, but the only thing he wasn’t able to understand was how the information about a professor supposedly molesting a student got out in the first place. He trusted Dean Fowler. He trusted his friends. It couldn’t have been anyone in his group, and Gavin Reed was constantly around him and under his very nose. No one was a suspect, yet, but Nines was feeling more and more horrified as the protesters outside on camera grew louder and more violent.

Their boisterous screams raged on when Dean Fowler emerged, and the few protesters hold up their crafted signs. The bold black letters spelled out the most abusive, harsh, and vile sentences only vapid minds could conjure up.

**CAN WE TRUST ANDROIDS AS TEACHERS?**

**CAN WE TRUST MACHINES AT ALL?**

**EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IS CORRUPT!!**

**JUSTICE FOR MY CHILD’S INNOCENCE!! BAN ALL ANDROIDS!!**

It was a nightmare. Everything had been ruined; his career, his hopes, his dreams, his ambitions, and his name. While no one knew the intricate details, of course, they knew enough to enable Nines to feel alarmed beyond a minor level. Someone had talked, and his anxiety shot through the roof. Gavin sat next to him comfortably in the living room, half-sprawled on the floor and partly on the couch while he draped his smooth legs along the edge of the table. His thin white camisole which barely sat up to the top of his thighs revealed plenty, but that was the least of Nines’ worries. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before questions flocked to his doorstep, and perhaps more than a terse word or two would make it. Judging by the way a lot of the parents and other students paraded around so viciously, stomping and storming through their messages, this was a war already starting.

Things were now in motion, and Nines felt lost to the tossing and turning of a most violent storm at sea. He literally felt sick as he sat back with his own theories churning in his troubled mind, but there wasn’t a lot he could do. The path had been set, and this issue had to run its own course, much like a disease. All he could do was hope to seek out a cure for what ailed him, but Nines was outnumbered. He had no chance.

The interviewers and reporters hounded Dean Fowler relentlessly, not even giving him a moment to breathe. Nipping at his heels like vicious animals, they were eager for any information. Their cameras, microphones and recording equipment spun about just as the wind picked up. It howled, and in spite of the sunny summer day, the picture before Nines was beginning to paint bleakly. Things weren’t going to end well, and Nines wasn’t going to delude himself into staying optimistic. He couldn’t sit back and wait for a perfect opportunity; he had to get his story out there, somehow.

But how?

The potent smell of the chemicals that made up the toxic substance that Gavin was decorating the length of his toenails with wafted all throughout the living room, but it didn’t bother Nines as much as he wanted it to. Yes, he needed a reason to shout and scream at Gavin, to unleash his anger unjustly at someone other than himself, but he found he couldn’t do so. As he turned to gaze at Gavin, he found that while painting his toenails almost in perfect precision and deliberate motions, he’d sliced himself a Granny Smith apple and was occasionally nibbling on the crispy fruit.

Ignoring him when studying and observing became too much, Nines chose to watch what was going on as well as amuse himself with his dark thoughts.

The TV blared on louder and louder, effectively giving Nines what the android knew wasn’t exactly a headache, but could’ve been regarded as one. He felt his knees trembling and shaking, and his skull felt as though it’d been throbbing and expanding as the noisy reporters chased after Dean Fowler, eager and desperate to get him to answer questions about other professors sexually assaulting students.

One such reporter practically jumped at Fowler, shrieking with all his might. “Dean Fowler!! Sir!!! Don’t you think that your instructors and professors are going to be burying into themselves for protection while knee-deep in problems, now?!”

Gavin rolled his eyes as he applied green nail polish on his toes and sighed out, “Yeah, they’re _soooo_ deep into themselves, like all the way to the elbow with a forearm slathered in Crisco-deep, which by the way should be about your first night in prison when Nines is proven innocent!”

“Reed!” Nines barked at him, ready to dish out a warning and get the boy to stop, but the loquacious Gavin went on his rant anyway.

“—So, if there’s a male equivalence to the Kegel exercise, you might wanna start practicing that shit right now because…you’re gonna need it.” A look of utter indifference grew on his face, and Nines snarled at him to be quiet as he raised the volume of the TV.

Jeffrey Fowler waved a hand as he tried making his way into the university through the side doors, shouting over his shoulder the entire time that he wanted to be left alone.

Another male reporter tried catching up to him as he panted, “Oohoo!! Ahaa!! Dean Fowler, sir?! Wait!! Oooh!”

Fanning the putrid, potent odors of the nail polish away from his toes, Gavin pointed out, “Hey, it’s actual audio of this guy’s first night in prison!” Leaning forward, he snatched the remote out of Nines’ hand, and he instantly replayed that specific part.

“Oohoo!! Ahaa! Dean Fowler!! Oohoo!! Ahaa!! Oohoo!! Ahaa!!”

When Gavin replayed it for the fourth time, Nines hissed, “Give me that back!!”

“Ooooh Tyroooneee!” Gavin moaned breathlessly, giggling in pleasure while Nines struggled and fought for the remote. Again, he replayed the panting and moaning, giggling and cackling without any care in the world.

“Yeeesssss, Deandre!!!” His voice growled this out deeper, and he let out a series of more than highly amused giggles. He abruptly broke out of it when Nines gripped a small pillow and flung it into his face.

Leaping back and squealing, Gavin protectively shielded his nail polish while screaming angrily at Nines. The pillow unfortunately knocked against the small plate bearing more fruits Gavin had obviously been intending on devouring, and they scattered and rolled about on the carpet.

“Oooh,” Gavin purred as he pointed at the fruits, “a shit-show!”

“Silence!” Nines turned his attention back to the TV, and unconsciously, where more effervescent reporters flocked and crowed about Dean Fowler, so hungry and desperate for any bit of news and information. With a crude scoff, Nines shook his head, LED light yellow. It bounced off the walls and shiny glass windows as he murmured to himself, “Those despicable vultures; waiting for _any_ scrap of dirt they can fling at anyone other than themselves.”

_And Fowler led them right to it…_

While he sat fuming to himself, Gavin filed down a few of his fingernails while droning out softly, “Who cares what they’re doing?”

Nines’ head spun around towards him. An ugly sneer etched onto the android’s features as he snapped irritably and impatiently, “I care! This is my name and reputation at stake!!”

Was the younger man this daft and ruined in the head to be asking such a bizarre question in the first place!? Nines certainly thought so, but that wasn’t the topic of contention and argument currently. What heated his thirium coursing through his body and ensuring his bio-components operated perfectly well for the time being was a single and relatively logical question.

Why?

Why would someone do this to him? Hadn’t he gone through enough in terms of embarrassment, fear, suffering, tarnishing his name, his work, and losing everything he’d worked so hard for?

Unknowingly, he parted his lips, and he spoke out in the midst of all his vitriol and resentment under his breath softly. “They think I did it…there’s no other way around this, is there?”

Although he hadn’t been addressing anyone in particular, least of all Gavin, the young, eccentric man blinked up at him. Collecting his apples back onto his plate neatly while still eyeing Nines cautiously, Gavin fluttered his perfect eyelashes at the tall android sitting down next to himself before the TV. Inching and scooting himself closer to Nines, Gavin only ceased moving and shifting when his warm body made close contact with his former instructor’s. Due to the level of their close proximity, Nines was shaken out of his musings and stupor.

LED light yellow, Nines winced as he stared down at the goofy smile plastered along Gavin’s youthful face. It stirred up some odd sensations within Nines to look at his former pupil that way, so he immediately stopped studying and observing Gavin. Unfortunately, the shine of pure amusement trapped within Gavin’s blue-grey depths never disappeared. In fact, quite the opposite happened; he was even more amused.

Moodily, an ‘on edge’ Nines snapped crudely, “What’re you looking at?”

Still smugly grinning like a love-struck fool, Gavin cooed, “I know you didn’t do it, you know you didn’t do it, and I think deep down, Douche Fowler knows you didn’t do it either, Nines.”

Irate beyond words, Nines pointed thickly at Gavin, ready to scold him. “That’s _Dean Fowler_ to you, pompous, arrogant brat!!” Trying not to raise his voice too much given the time of night, he ended his tumultuous rant by grunting out weakly, “Good God, has the world gone mad? Or have I?”

He honestly didn’t know. It seemed that he’d knocked his head into one of the thickest of brick walls, especially the kind that landed him into a dead end. Past the point of no return…

Before he could hang his head in shame and mourn over his academic and career losses, however, two small hands jutted forth. The warmth radiated off them and wafted over Nines’ human flesh. Though lacking temperature, Nines felt frozen. His eyes traced and tracked Gavin’s movements, and as much as he wished and wanted to do something and tear himself as far apart from Gavin as he could, he found it to be impossible. This was absolutely bizarre and insanity at its sheer core, and he didn’t want any part in it.

…But he didn’t have a choice; Gavin saw to it.

Planting both palms of his hands firmly over Nines’ cheeks, he cupped the android’s handsome face, he drew their faces flush together. Bone met forehead, and Gavin sighed a sweet, dreamy sort of sigh Nines had not usually heard from him before. This time, it sounded fleeting, and almost like a sort of ‘far away’ hum or a purr than anything else. There was a slight moan to it, but nothing perverse or sexual. In fact, at least to Nines, it sounded…ethereal? Otherworldly?

There was no way to describe it…

Nuzzling Nines closely like a tiny kitten protectively and comfortably snuggling against its mother, Gavin smiled and curled his fingers around the dip in Nines’ cheeks. Staring down at him in awe, Nines felt the words dry up on his tongue, and any trace of anger, resentment, or scorn evaporated from his mind. Any single shred of negativity he’d wanted to reserve and dish out for Gavin was now gone. It was as though someone had wiped it clean off a blackboard or slate.

This was a first…

Once again, against his better judgement and against his will, his tongue was loose. He repeated his previous question in spite of Gavin having heard it loud and clear before.

“Have I…am I going insane?”

Chuckling a boyishly innocent chuckle that rattled through Nines, the younger male inhaled softly. Eyes remaining tightly shut, Gavin huffed against his nose. “You went insane ages ago, I’m sorry to say, Nines…” Eyes finally opening, he bestowed and portrayed nothing short of love and adoration for the android.

“Yes…” Gazing into Nines’ eyes without even needing to blink, Gavin proclaimed in glee, “…You may be bat-shit insane, but anyone who is, they’re definitely worth every second in my book.”

The way Gavin stated this, Nines found himself truly wanting to latch onto the idea and hope that this was true…that Gavin really meant his words sincerely and genuinely. That hope coursed and surged potently back and forth, up and down, and around and around in his thirium pump and mind until it became one large weight directly on his back and shoulders.

Sinking himself against Gavin, Nines didn’t feel the least bit worried or ashamed of the fact that he was leaning and slumped down over his former student, arms hanging loosely at his sides while he just felt Gavin breathing, caught him blinking quickly, and faintly heard his heart racing.

There existed within Nines a small sliver of hope and mild fascination that maybe… _maybe_ whatever Gavin had said to him, and whatever he would continue to say to him from now on, perhaps it would all be truthful and directly from his sincere heart.

Nines actually found a smile on his face that lasted him through the night, and it was a most genuine smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to have gotten this out, now I go on hiatus *Sleeps for 3 years*


End file.
